Shig and Mayu
by clubbingwithpikachu
Summary: Some friendships last forever. For Morishige and Mayu, their friendship is something that cannot be broken by anyone or anything. They can endure anything as long as they are together. Contains swearing and some other fucked up crap later on. * No promises, but I'll try to update weekly.*
1. My Name is Mayu

**Chapter 1: My Name is Mayu**

* * *

"Sakutaro Morishige, get over here. Let mommy give you your special 'candy' before we go out." Kumiko told her five year old son. The little navy haired boy did as his

mother told him since he would do anything to go to the park. His little mind had been looking forward to it all week. "Mommy, why do I have to take this candy every

day?" the innocent boy asked his mother. "Because it keeps you from falling down." Kumiko told him. Morishige went along with the answer and rushed out the door

and into the car. His mother hadn't told him he had been suffering from seizures since last year. She didn't want his sweet personality to ever leave him and she felt if

he didn't understand that he would remain her happy bundle of joy for as long as he lived. Morishige's mother drove her son to the park that crisp, cloudless, warm

Saturday. Her husband was busy working overtime so he wasn't able to accompany his family's trip to the kid's park. As his mother parked the car, Sakutaro jumped

out and immediately ran for the sandbox. "Hang on tiger. I need to give you some sunblock before you go on your adventure." his mother told him. The little child

huffed and puffed but did as he was told. When she had done giving him some protection, Kumiko sat on a nearby bench to keep an eye on her son. Morishige was

very bouncy in the sandbox and he was planning on making the biggest sandcastle ever; one so big it could reach the moon. He grabbed a dirty shovel and pail and

got to work. He built the walls as big as he could and then he remembered something. A moat! "That's what I forgot. I can't wait till I get this done. Mommy will see

how I'm such a big boy and she'll tell daddy and he'll get me a kitty." he giddily told himself. Morishige loved cats and he thought if could show his mom and dad that he

could make nice things that they'd get him his very own kitten. He loved how sweet they were and how fuzzy and warm they are when they're in your lap. He built a

very wide moat and went to go get some water from the drinking fountain to put in it. He dragged the heavy pail of water but spilled it before he could get back to his

castle. He kicked the pail and ran to a nearby tree to cry but Sakutaro didn't notice his glasses falling off his face. A little girl took notice of the pail that rolled towards

her and the tear stained glasses that were a few inches up from it. "Mommy, who's are these?" she asked. "I don't know honey. Maybe that little boy under that

cherry tree knows." the woman told her daughter. The girl excitedly ran up to Morishige who had his face buried in his knees and still was crying. "Hi there! Are these

yours?" she asked with much enthusiasm. Morishige wiped his nose and saw his glasses and his dripping wet yellow pail in her hands. Although he could make out the

face in front of him, when he put on his glasses the image became much more clear. The little girl was bubbly, giggly, and beaming with energy and her smile and eyes

matched it too. She wore a light, airy Hello Kitty dress that was so very pink. "Do you need help with this pail? Someone was building a moat for a pretty sandcastle..."

she said before the boy below her got up and interrupted her. "Yeah! Let's go!" They both bounced their way back to the sandbox where Morishige's castle stood tall

and proud in the bright sunlight, still unscathed but also not finished. "Let's go get the water together and then I'll help you finish the sandcastle." she said with

anticipation. Sakutaro's eyes lit up and he went along with the girl's plan. Carrying the pail was much easier this time around, and before they knew it, the sandcastle

was finished and it was also time to go home. "Did you have fun today, sweetie?" Kumiko asked her son. "A lot of fun, mommy! I built this big sandcastle and this girl

helped me!" he replied with joy. "I saw that sandcastle. It's so very big and pretty. You should thank her for her help." she smiled at her son. Luckily for little Morishige

he didn't have to look very far to say his thanks. The girl and her mother were parked right next to him and his mom. "Hey there! Thanks for being so nice! I like you!"

"Mommy always says to be nice and it feels good. What's your name?" she asked completely changing the subject. "M...M..Sakutaro Morishige. What's yours?" "Mayu

Suzumoto." was her response. "Wow! You must be so smart if you could say your last name without it sounding funny." Mayu giggled and blushed at his words.

Kumiko greeted Mayu's mother, Yukie, since the two had known each other from work. They both talked about how precious they both were and shared little stories

with one another. Mayu and Morishige waved goodbye and went back to their homes. "Mommy?" the sleepy boy said. "Yes?" "Can Mayu and I have a play date

sometime?" Morishige's mom couldn't resist that little face and told him, "Of course. Looks like you've made a new friend."


	2. The Beginning of a Beautiful Friendship

**Chapter 2: The Beginning of a Beautiful Friendship**

1 week later

* * *

"Mayu's here! Mayu's here! Mayu's here!" Morishige told his mom and dad while he was jumping on the furniture. Kumiko and Shoichirio were happy that their son

finally made a friend and just in time for kindergarten too. The energetic boy eagerly answered the door and gave Mayu a big hug while her parents watched them

both. "What are we doing today, Shig?" Mayu asked her new friend. Morishige was confused. "Who's Shig?" "I'm sorry. Your name is so funny sounding so I decided to

call you Shig so I wouldn't ever forget you." she smiled. "Okay." Shig took Mayu to his playroom were two little easels stood with all the paint and paper they'd ever

need. "I like to finger paint! Will you finger paint with me?" Morishige asked her. Mayu nodded her head and stuck her hand into the fresh blue paint. Sakutaro wanted

to do everything Mayu did so he used blue finger paint too. "What are you drawing Shig?" "I'm drawing a kitty! I love kitties!" he told her. "I love them too! They're so

cute and fuzzy." Mayu said. "What are you drawing Mayu?" "I'm drawing a princess like the ones you see on stage or in those cool books." Shig dropped everything he

was doing and observed Mayu's art. "Wow. She's pretty. I want to be like her but be the boy version. What's he called? Oooh, the prince." Sakutaro said. "Hey Shig, I

got a good idea. Let's use our finger paint on the walls. It'll be pretty! Won't our mommies and daddies love it?" Mayu asked, her little green eyes sparkling up. "Wow,

Mayu! You're so smart. You're the bestest friend ever!" he said to her. They grabbed their rainbow of colors and used their little fingers like paintbrushes and the walls

made for a really nice canvas. They both ran out of the playroom chasing each other while using their artistic talent to impress their parents. "Sakutaro Morishige! Why

is there paint on my walls?" Kumiko asked her son, with great irritation. "Aren't the walls pretty?! Me and Mayu thought it would make you happy." Shig smiled.

"Honey, you can't just paint on the walls. We all appreciate the thought, though." "Which one of you started it?" Ken'ichi demanded. "I did it, Mr. Mayu's dad. I told her

it would make everyone happy." Mayu was confused. Why would her new friend take the blame for her idea? "No Shig. I'll tell him." Mayu walked forward explaining, "I

thought it would make you both happy. I'm sorry everyone." Mayu hung her head in shame, the tears staining her eyes, face, and plain pink blouse. Shig could see

how upset she was and he slid his hand into hers so that she would know he was by her side, giving all the support he could. "Don't punish Mayu. I'll take care of the

mess. She doesn't deserve to have her momma and daddy mad at her. She's my best friend." Sakutaro demanded, but saying it in such an asking tone. His innocent

little eyes were getting teary eyed with Mayu's. He didn't want her taken away from him. "Kumiko, Shoichirio, we're sorry about this whole thing." Yukie explained with

touches of shame in her voice. "There's nothing to be upset about. Mayu and Sakutaro weren't doing any harm. They wanted to show us what little Picasso's they

were." Kumiko smiled at her friend. "Let's just have fun the rest of the day, ok everyone?" Mayu and Shig were happy that they weren't in any real trouble. They

played on their Game Boy Colors trading with one another and fascinating over the time traveler Celebi. Shig wasn't able to get it for his Crystal version, but Mayu had

one so she traded it to him so he could at least have it in his Pokedex. Morishige heard a rumor that you could clone Pokemon. He followed the steps and with luck he

got a cloned Celebi. He gave Mayu's back to her but she was still confused about what he had done. "I turned it off just after the period thingy and I got another one

so I could give yours back while I have one of my own. That's a rumor I heard and it turned out to be true! How neat is that?" he shouted. "Wow, that's super cool!

Thanks for giving mine back. That's a really nice thing to do." Mayu said, giving him a bear hug. Morishige's face grew warm and his cheeks had an extra tint of pink in

them from the embrace. "C'mon you two. Let's take a picture so you'll always remember today." Shoichirio told his son and Mayu. Both kids gave off their biggest,

happiest smiles as a photo of their first play date will forever remain in memory. When Mayu and her parents had to go home, Morishige was sad but waved goodbye

as his friend waved back to him. "Honey, don't worry about the mess. I'll take care of it." Kumiko told her son. "I want to help you mommy. I need to be a big boy."

Morishige told his mother. "Well," Shoichirio said leaning down to the little navy haired child who was painted up, "Since you took responsibility and have been such a

good boy for the most part, we'll get you a kitty. How does that sound?" "Thank you daddy!" the little boy said hugging his dad tightly. "Do you think my girlfriend will

like the kitty cat too?" "What do you mean?" Shoichirio asked his son. "Mayu, silly. Mayu's my friend and she's a girl, so that makes her my girlfriend and makes me her

boyfriend." Mom and dad were a little put off by this, but they knew it was all innocent child's play and not the real deal. For Shig, however, it was real, albeit not as

how most would view it, but he didn't care. "Me and Mayu will always be together!" he thought to himself.


	3. Will You Be My Valentine?

**Chapter 3: Will You Be My Valentine?**

5 years later

* * *

"Happy birthday, little man!" Kumiko told her son while she sat on the side of his bed. "Mom, I'm 10 years old. I'm not a baby anymore." Morishige groaned as he was

woken up. "You'll always be my little baby in my eyes. Now get dressed. Don't want to be late for school, do we?" she smiled. "I hate school. Everyone's mean to me."

the boy complained. "What about Mayu? She's always nice to you and that Seiko girl is nice to the both of you." Morishige bolted up and out of bed as he remembered

he had to give Mayu his gifts. He ran in his closet and uncovered his present for Mayu, completely ignoring what he and his mother had said about school life. He had

two tickets for Kisaragi's upcoming rendition of Phantom of the Opera, a recipe for blackberry crepes, a box of chocolates shaped like Hello Kitty, and a bouquet of tiger

lilies. "You know how to win the ladies over, you handsome little devil." the woman smiled at her confident son. He walked out to his mother's car and planned out

what would happen. "Mayu's gonna love her presents! If she really likes them then she'll ask me out to the Valentine's dance tonight and we'll get married and always

love each other!" Meanwhile at the Suzumoto household, Mayu was finishing her breakfast and preparing her gift for Shig. She got him a copy of the Epic of Gilgamesh,

a complete anthology of Shakespeare, and tickets for the dance that night. She gave him the best she could get and the dance was the one thing that was on her

mind and she wanted the night to enhance their friendship. Both kids made their way to school with no trouble, as per usual, and excitedly met each other in the

lobby. "Happy Valentine's Day, Mayu! Will you be my Valentine this year?" he asked her, already confident of her answer, after giving her huge set of presents. "Of

course I will! I'll always be your Valentine, Shig!" Mayu blushed madly and with her widest smile yet. Morishige was frozen at her words. Always his Valentine? "You

really mean that Mayu? Because if you want I'll always be your Valentine too!" "Of course I do silly guy and I would be so happy if you were my Valentine forever. I got

you something special too." Mayu told him, handing over her presents to him. Her best friend was so excited about what he had gotten, he forgot about asking Mayu

to the dance. "I also got two tickets for us to go to the Valentine's dance. Want to go?" Morishige lost all control and gave Mayu a great big bear hug. "O thank you,

Mayu! I was going to ask but I wasn't sure if you'd want to go with me. Is Seiko coming too?" Shig wondered. "Yes, but she's bringing her new friend. I think her name

is Naomi. Seiko has the biggest crush on her, and her friend sounds really nice. Anyways, we should hurry to homeroom before the bell rings." Mayu insisted, holding

Morishige's hand on the way to class. Even though Shig and Mayu were in all the same classes together, they were always forced to sit far away from each other. He

hated sitting were he sat because Kito, the class bully, sat right next to him. He had been harassing Shig since kindergarten and hadn't let up. "Hey, bookworm. Are

you going to the dance tonight? O wait no you're not, because all the girls like me." Kito boasted. "You're so full of yourself, you big jerk! You WISHED all the girl's liked

you." Sakutaro snarled. Kito glared down at the smaller boy and shoved him out of his desk to gain access to the gifts Mayu had gotten him. "What's this? Books?

Blah!" he yelled before he got to Morishige's ticket. "So you are going to the dance. Who's taking you? I bet it's your mom." All the kids seemed to be laughing at him

and Sakutaro hid his red as a cherry face onto his desk. Mayu walked up to Shig to make sure he was alright. "Where's the teachers when you need them?" Mayu

thought to herself in anger. She had never felt genuinely angry before until now when her best friend was being harassed for having a date to the biggest dance for

Kisaragi's middle school. Kito took notice of Mayu and started to hit on her. "Hey, forget that loser. Go to the dance with me. I'll make sure he doesn't bother you

again." Shig heard his words and shoved Kito as soon as he got up. "Stay away from Mayu! If you touch her I'll kill you...you...asshole!" Everyone was surprised at

Morishige's choice of words and tone including Mayu, Kito, and Shig himself. "Ok, break it up you two." the teacher told the students as he walked into the classroom.

Morishige picked up all his belongings off the floor and sat back in his desk. Basic science was always a boring class for him, despite always getting good grades. He

spent most of his time drawing out his thoughts while his subconscious seamlessly picked up on all the material. Today he was drawing Mayu crying from himself

embarrassing her and going out with Kito instead of him. He was imagining himself stabbing Kito in the heart and Mayu being all over him. He knew these thoughts

weren't normal for a 10 year old, but then again nothing about him was normal. He quickly closed his notebook as soon as class ended so no one would think him

crazy and so he and Mayu would get to math class on time. "Mayu, I didn't embarrass you did I?" Shig asked as they walked down the halls. "What do you mean?" she

asked innocently. "In homeroom did I embarrass you at all?" "Of course not! You did the right thing. Besides Kito isn't very nice and I don't like mean people. Like

everyone deserves a friend, but no one should be mean to other people." Mayu told him. Sakutaro sighed with relief at this revelation and was able to carry on with

the rest of the day without a problem. As soon as he got home, Morishige took a hot shower and put on the tuxedo his mom got him last year while Mayu was wearing

her new powder blue dress that looked like it would belong to a noble. They both made sure neither one was going to be an embarrassment to the other and that

they would have a good time. Mayu was even planning to confess her crush on Shig. Morishige arrived later than he'd hoped and was greeted by three impatient girls.

"C'mon, slowpokes! We're behind on our dancing! Don't go kissing you two!" Seiko laughed at Mayu and Morishige. Naomi let out a giggle at the friends misfortune and

rushed off to dance with her friend even though Seiko considered her more than that. "I'm not good at dancing, Mayu." Sakutaro sweated. "Don't worry. I can't either.

Let's just have fun tonight, ok boyfriend?" Mayu said. "What was that last part? Did you call me your boyfriend?" Morishige questioned the nervous brown haired girl.

"Of course not! We're just friends." she reasoned. In her head she was kicking herself for not being honest, but she knew he didn't like her the way she did and

wouldn't confess her love until she knew he loved her back. Morishige kicked himself in his mind for asking such an embarrassing question. Of course Mayu doesn't like

him like that and that small glimmer of hope that he and Mayu were boyfriend and girlfriend diminished but wasn't completely gone. He knew he had to wait for the

right moment to tell her how he really felt. Kito noticed Shig and Suzumoto having fun and left his date to go pick on the friends. "Hey, four eyes! Give me those

glasses of yours!" he yelled. He and Morishige struggled but Kito grabbed his glasses and rammed his foot onto them, shattering the glass into millions of tiny little

pieces. Seiko and Naomi saw the whole thing happen and ran to defend the young couple. "Leave Morishige alone, jerkoff!" Shinohara yelled at the bully. Kito blew a

piece of his purple hair out of his face and scoffed at her. "Why should I listen to some slut? You like other girls and that's just sick!" Seiko was so close to tearing him

a new one but Naomi stopped her. "Leave him alone, Shinohara. He's not worth it." Kito walked away and the four kids got back to the dance. Mayu noticed how much

fun her friend and her date were having and tried copying some of their dance moves with her date. Shig kept bumping into Mayu because he couldn't see where he

was going, yet Mayu couldn't care less. Both kids and their two friends were having so much fun despite the drama endured earlier. At the end of the night during the

classic slow dance Mayu placed her head against Morishige's chest to which he let out a surprised gasp. Her innocent, pearly green eyes met with his own and she

kissed him on the corner of his mouth. Morishige's eyes widened and he took no incentive to kiss her back. It was an accident right? He wanted her to kiss him, but

knew that if he even enjoyed it Mayu would never want to talk to him ever again. Mayu was rather disappointed that Shig didn't respond to her act of love but she

didn't let it show. After all, maybe another day will happen were they both finally proclaim their true feelings towards each other.


	4. Pardon The Breakdown

**Chapter 4: Pardon the Breakdown**

1 year later

* * *

Ever since the Valentine's dance last year, Morishige and Mayu had been closer than ever and made some new friends. They met Satoshi Mochida and his little sister

Yuka. Then they met Yoshiki Kishinuma and Ayumi Shinozaki who seemed like a couple but they both vehemently denied it. Seiko and Naomi Nakashima were still very

close to Mayu and Morishige grew somewhat fond of the both of them. Today was your average Tuesday and that meant gym class, something Morishige hated as

much as Kito. He always got picked last, was consistently called gay and fag by the other boys, and had balls thrown at him and the worst part was Mayu wasn't able

to comfort him when he was on the verge of tears. Of course the boys and girls had separate gym classes so couples and friends were unable to have fun together,

and this made Shig a very vulnerable target for ridicule and abuse. "Hey four eyes fag, you're on my team." an older boy named Sechi mocked. "Heads up Sechi. He

might just suck your balls for fun." Kito and his friends laughed. Morishige hung his head as he felt forced over to his dodgeball team. "Don't worry, dude. I'll help you

out." Satoshi encouraged him. He managed to get a slight smirk out of his new found friend but nothing more. Bouncy red, blue, and green rubber balls flew across the

room like speeding bullets and Kito's team kept winning round after round. Last round. Morishige and Satoshi were up against Kito and Yoshiki. Satoshi got Yoshiki

knocked out of the battle but Kito hit Satoshi in the face with a high speed throw. "It's just you and me, faggot. Why don't you just lie down and suck my dick like a

good boy?" Kito laughed. Shig kept his eyes on Kito's hands and the blue ball of death that would decide the final winner. The ball flung out of Kito's hands and

slammed into Morishige's jaw. Kito laughed as he presumed himself victorious but hung his jaw open when it was made clear that Morishige hadn't let the ball touch

the ground and was holding it in his hands. "What was that about sucking your dick?" Morishige smiled with his face radiating confidence despite the marks the ball he

held had left on his face. "Nice job, Morishige!" Satoshi said with genuine applause. "Dude, you kicked Kito's ass. I wish I was on your team." Yoshiki smiled. Kito's

friends picked him up off the ground as Kito's own rage and jealousy bubbled in his brain. "Alright! Class ends in 5 minutes so get your shit ready for your next

classes!" the coach yelled at the sweaty boys. Morishige was in the middle of putting his nasty, sweaty gym clothes away in his messenger bag when Kito, Sechi and

their friends attacked him. "You think you're so great, don't you?" said a blonde boy with large muscles even a grown man would envy. "You sure know how to work

with balls don't you? Well have I got a treat for you." Kito smirked. Sechi kept his eyes on Morishige as he held him by the throat and smiled as he watched Kito

dropping his underwear to the cold, concrete floor. "Let me go! I need to take my medicine after gym class!" Morishige squirmed. "Prachisoki, go though that little slut's

bag and see if he's telling the truth." the purple haired boy instructed his friend as he slipped on a condom. "What are you doing? What are you going to do to me?"

Sakutaro cried. Prachisoki instantly found the medication Morishige was talking about, lying in his bag on top of his gym clothes, and tossed them into Kito's hands.

"See these? If you want them back you're gonna have to let me fuck your little bitch ass and suck my dick. But if you don't..." Kito trailed, "I'll take my Swiss Army knife

and jam it into your stomach. So what's the plan?" Morishige was crying like a newborn infant at this rate. "Good. I like it when my bitches cry before I fuck them." Kito

shoved Morishige to the floor and grabbed his legs and placed them on his shoulders. "I'll make you scream, bitch and no one will save you." Kito whispered into Shig's

ear. "Hold up guys!" a voice echoed throughout the locker room, "I forgot my shoes! Be back in a sec!" The laughter of the boys was so loud that none of them could

hear Yoshiki walking up behind them. "What the hell is going on here?! Kito, what are you doing to Morishige?!" Yoshiki yelled. "None of your business, you little rat!

Just leave Morishige to us." Sechi told him. "Well it looks like the evidence is all on your phones. So I suggest you let Morishige go unless you want to get expelled."

Kishinuma instructed with threats in his tone. Kito and the boys all left the half naked sobbing boy on the floor. "You alright? Did they hurt you?" Yoshiki asked.

Morishige kept whimpering with no response to his friends words. "Here, I'm pretty sure you'll need these." the boy said handing over his friends uniform slacks.

Morishige pulled up his pants and sat down on the bench to cry some more. Yoshiki wasn't the touchy feely type or one to get in touch with his feminine side, but even

he knew that the distress the guy next to him was facing was very difficult to bear and he tried to be supportive. He let out a slight laugh trying to make Morishige

more calm. "Heh...If my parents saw Kito they'd think I was a godsend." Yoshiki turned to face Morishige and saw him lying on the floor with his muscles contracting

violently and his head jerking back and forth. "O crap! What do I do?" Yoshiki panicked. Yoshiki's friends went to check up on him since he was taking so long to get his

shoes and found their blonde friend kneeling beside a convulsing Morishige. "Get help now!" Yoshiki yelled. The boys had never seen anything like it before but they

followed his command and got a teacher and a school nurse to check on him. By the time the help arrived, Morishige was lying still. "He'll be fine, but he should be

taken to a hospital just to be safe." the nurse told a shaken up Yoshiki. A few hours later, Morishige awoke to the sight of his family and friends surrounding him.

"What happened? Why am I in a hospital bed?" "You had a seizure honey. Your friend Yoshiki saved your life." Kumiko told him with a small tear rolling down her cheek.

Yoshiki looked away, not wanting to feel like some sort of superhero or saint. Naotaro, Morishige's grandfather, hugged his only grandson. "Thanks grandfather. You

always know how to make me smile." Sakutaro told him. His grandfather's husky blue eyes locked onto the boy that saved his grandson's life. "You should be proud of

yourself, young man. If it weren't for you, we'd be well...not happy to say the least." "It's no trouble sir, but I think I should head home. I'd stay all day if I could, but

my parents are probably wondering where I am right now." Yoshiki smiled. Morishige wasn't sad his friend left because he knew he had a life and needed to get home.

Not much else happened in the week or even month that followed Shig's trip to the hospital. Sure, school was typical in that Shig was bullied and all, but nothing as

extreme as what had happened a month ago. But one Wednesday morning he got some news that he wish he never knew about. "What's wrong mom? Did something

bad happen?" the boy asked his mother. "Your grandfather passed away last night. Someone tried to mug him and he fought back and got stabbed so much. There

were wounds all over his body." Kumiko cried. Morishige didn't seem phased at first sight and went to school with no problems. "Shig, bro what's up?" Mayu asked very

cheerfully. Morishige seemed numb to her words and his eyes looked blank. "What's wrong? Did someone hurt you? Are you sick?" Morishige fell into Mayu's arms and

sobbed so heavily that her clothes were soaked from his tears. "Grand...ppp...a died last night. Someone killed him because they were a big coward. He wouldn't hurt

anyone and he was my idol. I wish I was there so I could've saved him." "Shig, there's nothing you could've done. If you were there you would've gotten hurt and I

can't stand to see you hurt." Mayu told him. She let out a smile to brighten the mood between themselves. "C'mon, let's go and hang out with Mochida and Kishinuma

in homeroom and then we can have lunch with Seiko and Naomi. We might even get that new girl to sit with us." Mayu said while guiding him to homeroom. "You mean

Ayumi, the girl Kishinuma likes?" he questioned. "Yeah, that's it. Geez, I can't remember anything today." she laughed at herself. When they got in homeroom their

friends greeted them like they haven't seen each other in years. Yoshiki surprised Morishige with a noogie and a pat on the back which Shig was taken aback by. Kito

and his crew all stood around his desk talking to each other about the usual: money, how much a certain teacher sucks, how much of a badass one was, how they

could kick all the asses of everyone in school, and doing drugs, usually Jagerbombs. But Morishige could hear a slightly different subject being whispered amongst

them. "So this old guy was walking the streets by himself like a total loser. So I tried to get some money off him, and the fucker thought he could beat me so I stabbed

him like 50 times. Of course he stood no chance, and I got me an easy $100 bucks!" Kito laughed. "Wow, man. That's so hardcore! I bet he bled out like a bitch."

Wantasubi, the boy with the muscles of a pro bodybuilder, said. "Yeah and no one will care because old people are useless like that four eyed faggot over there with

his even faggier friends and his slut girlfriend." Kito snidely told the gang. Morishige could feel his face catching fire with anger. Kito killed Naotaro! No, that can't be

right. Shig must be paranoid and over thinking the situation. And why was he picking on his friends who have done no wrong to him and why did he call Mayu a slut?

He must be having a super ego trip today. On his way to pre-algebra, Morishige was attacked by Kito and his gang. Shig didn't want to get in trouble so he decided to

just make a run for class. The halls were filled with so many people that is was hard for both parties to accomplish their goals. Morishige felt like a gazelle running

through the plains and Kito and his friends were like a pack of lions going in for their prey. His heart raced through his chest and he skidded on his heels as he got into

the classroom. Mayu and all their friends had already made it to class and Morishige lost sight of the kids who were chasing him. "Hey Suzume, Morishige's here. I told

you he was fine. This teacher takes his sweet ol' time before he gets here so he couldn't have gotten into trouble." Ayumi reassured a slightly panicked Mayu.

Morishige felt very relieved and approached Mayu to back up Ayumi's claim but he felt someone shove him onto the polished wooden floors. Thankfully, his glasses

didn't even get scratched but when he saw Kito standing over him with a knife he felt like he was paralyzed from the neck down. "Well, well. Looks like you've got

nowhere to run. No one in this room will save you." Kito smirked. Mochida and Kishinuma tried to hold Kito back, but his friends pummeled them to the ground. "What

makes you tick little guy? Maybe I should try my knife out on your girlfriend over here." Kito grabbed Mayu's arm and made a long, but not deep, cut. Shig's eyes

widened, his heart was racing faster than ever before, and everything around him seemed unreal except for what was going on with Mayu. Morishige got up and

tackled Kito to the ground. "GET YOUR FUCKING HANDS OFF OF HER! I WON'T LET YOU HURT HER!" Sakutaro screamed like a banshee. Shig yanked Kito's knife out his

hand and his vision turned red. Without knowing it, Morishige plunged the blade into Kito's neck. The children all had horrified looks on their faces as Kito began

gurgling on his own blood, watching him struggle to survive. Mayu knew she had to stop him from killing Kito. "Shig, bro! Stop it! You'll kill him!" Mayu yelled. When she

faced him, his eyes were as wide as saucers and his face seemed to show that he seemed happy at what he was doing. "Stop...ppp...I'm s...orry" Kito cried. Shig's

face didn't change it's expression and he continued to stab Kito. He plunged the knife into Kito's heart at least twice. When Morishige came through, he saw himself

standing over Kito's limp body with Kito's knife in his hands. "What did I do? O God, I'm a murderer!" Sakutaro dropped the bloodied blade onto the floor and backed

away from the corpse in the middle of the room. Some of the other kids, including Seiko, Satoshi and a few of Kito's friends tried to get a teacher to call the police as

Morishige just sat on the floor in complete horror of what he had done. He didn't know what would happen next or how Mayu and his parents would feel about him,

but just the sheer fact that he killed another student, someone else's son, someone's friend, and someone's boyfriend made him shudder in pure terror.


	5. I See Dead People

**Chapter 5: I See Dead People**

1 year later

* * *

The week after Kito died, Morishige was placed on trial for homicide. Morishige argued he was only defending himself and Mayu from imminent danger. The other

students, including Kito's friends, testified that Kito had assaulted Mayu and that he was planning on killing Morishige. Kito's friends admitted to bullying Morishige and

allowing Kito to attempt to rape Morishige and keeping his medication from him and they had video footage of the incident on their cellphones. Kito's friends also

admitted to knowing about Kito committing a homicide and not reporting it. Further investigation revealed the murder victim to be Naotaro Morishige, much to Shig's

dismay. The bullies were sentenced to attend a reform school until they were 19 and Sakutaro was declared innocent. Morishige finally felt safe in school, yet he didn't

feel any better about what he had done. His guilt began to become a cumbersome burden that consumed his mind. One day in the middle of drama club practice,

Morishige saw Kito watching him from the seats. He thought his guilt began messing with his brain, until Kito showed up more and more. Kito even began to speak to

him as well his grandfather. Kito kept encouraging Morishige to kill himself while Naotaro ridiculed his grandson for not defending him from his assailant. Of course, Shig

never told anyone because he knew no one would have believed him and Kito threatened to kill Mayu and his parents if he told anyone. This particular day of 7th

grade was an anxiety ridden day. Mayu could even see something was wrong with her friend. "Hey Shig, bro. Are you alright? You seem really tense." her concerned

green gaze caught his attention. "No, no, no! I won't tell!" he yelled. "Shig, what's wrong? I'm your friend. You can tell me anything." Morishige really wanted to tell,

but Kito interrupted his thoughts. "I'll kill her if you tell! Don't want anything to happen to her do you?" he sneered. "Of course not. What was I thinking?" a nervous

Sakutaro told him. "Who are you talking to?" Mayu wondered. "I won't tell! Just go away!" Morishige screamed. "Shig, you're scaring me." Mayu cried. "I'm sorry Mayu.

It's just if I tell you you'll get hurt and I won't be able to live with myself if I were to hurt you." Shig teared up. "Who'll hurt me?" Mayu questioned. "Kito said he would

kill you if I told you that he talks to me and nags me to kill myself." Morishige realized what he had said and grabbed Mayu by the hand and ran to homeroom. When

they got into their basic chemistry class, Mayu pulled Shig by the arm and questioned him further. "What are you talking about? Kito died last year, remember?" Mayu

told him. "I know he did. I'm not stupid. But he found a way to get inside my head and never leave me alone. Grandpa did the same thing too." "Shig, calm down. No

one will kill me, alright? Just try to relax." Mayu soothingly told him. "But..." Shig pleaded. "No. Neither your grandpa or Kito can hurt anyone. Now c'mon. Let's just

have a normal day of school, okay?" Mayu smiled. Mayu and Shig's friends looked worriedly at the rambling boy and tried to help him avoid thinking any negative

thoughts the rest of the day. Morishige pretended to act normal and peaceful but his mind was continuously plagued by Kito and Naotaro screaming at him. "You little

rat! I told you not to tell and you did. Now Mayu must die!" Kito screamed. "Sakutaro, why are you such a disappointment? I'll have to help Kito kill her, the little whore

that she is." Morishige really wanted to give them a piece of his mind but knew he was always being watched by students and faculty. "What's the matter? Can't you

talk?" Kito mocked. The voices were driving Shig over the edge. He wanted them to go away, but he didn't know how and he didn't want them to hurt his parents and

Mayu, both innocent souls. Not only were the voices driving him mad, but his depression was starting to run over as well. Part of Morishige had wanted to die for a

while and the other part wanted to fight until he died, and it seemed the side of him that was obsessed with death was winning. "Fine, I'll do what you want, but you

both have to leave Mayu and my parents alone." Shig finally gave into their pleas for suicide. Kito and Naotaro agreed and Sakutaro was somewhat at peace. On the

way to English class, Mayu fell down some stairs and somehow managed to only break her leg and only in one place. Naomi, Ayumi, and Seiko flocked to her side to

make sure she was alright. "Suzume, can you lift your leg?" Ayumi wondered. Mayu could move it very slightly but not without excruciating pain overtaking her body.

Mayu left early so she could go to the hospital and get a cast. Morishige saw the whole thing play out and went into the nearest bathroom to curse his grandpa and

Kito. "You assholes promised you wouldn't hurt Mayu!" he yelled. "So sorry, but you did promise to not tell anyone about our secret and you did, so that little bitch just

got what she deserved." Kito laughed. "FUCK YOU! SHE'S NOT A BITCH!" Morishige screamed. He ran out of the bathroom and up to the top floor. "Hey wait up!"

Satoshi pleaded. "No! I'm going to the roof! I can't take it anymore!" Sakutaro bellowed back. "The roof?" Mochida contemplated. He realized then and there that Shig

was going to kill himself if he didn't stop him. Everything around Satoshi seemed like a blur but he refused to stop. He wouldn't let anyone die on his account. When he

got to the roof, Mochida saw Morishige leaning on the edge of the perimeter of the roof. "Get away from there! Don't you know what'll happen if you jump?" Satoshi

pleaded. "Of course! I'll be dead and their voices will finally leave me alone. I'll be at peace!" Sakutaro tearfully told the brown haired boy. "What voices? What are you

talking about?" "Kito and grandpa want me to die and I'm gonna do it so they'll leave me alone!" Satoshi knew he had to think fast since Shig could jump at any

moment. "What about Mayu? Didn't you think what would happen to her?" Mochida contested. Sakutaro removed his feet from the edge in order to face his friend. "If

you kill yourself, Mayu will be devastated. Didn't you ever consider her feelings?" The boy looked down at the ground below him with shame on his face. How could he

be so selfish? He would never want to hurt Mayu. Satoshi wrapped his arms around the sobbing boy as the ambulances rolled into school. When Shig got to the

hospital he was placed in a very secure observation room made especially for dangerous patients. Kumiko and Shoichirio rushed to the ER as soon as Satoshi had

called them. "Where's our son?" Shoichirio said, practically yelling at the chief of emergency psych. "Are you the Morishiges? If so follow me." he told them. When they

got to where they were being taken to, they saw through one way glass their only child crying in a corner of the padded room. "What have you done to my baby?"

Kumiko cried and shouted simultaneously. "Please, have a seat and calm down..." the doctor persuaded before Mrs. Morishige cut him off. "CALM DOWN?! How can I

calm down when my little boy is in there crying because he tried to harm himself?" "Ma'am please try to relax. I understand this must be difficult for the both of you, but

right now I need the both of you to stay strong and confident for your son." Shig's mother grabbed her husband by the arm and forced the both of them into the

chairs. "What's wrong with him?" Shoichirio questioned. Actually it more like interrogating the poor doctor. "Has your son ever witnessed any sort of traumatic event?

Death of a loved one? Extreme bullying?" he asked the worried parents. "He was bullied for a long time and he tried to protect his friend from his bully and wound up

killing him. Before that, I had told him that someone murdered his grandfather. He's always had some issues but none of it was very troubling or disturbing. He's

always so very quiet when he comes home from drama club. He just goes up into his room and plays on his computer and sometimes talks to Mayu." Kumiko replied.

"Is Mayu a friend of your son?" the doctor wondered. "Most definitely. They've been friends since kindergarten and they're practically inseparable. We even think he

has a crush on her." they smiled, finally able to be genuinely calm. "Alright then. We think your son is suffering from depression mixed with paranoid schizophrenia. He

keeps saying that the voices in his head are telling him to kill himself and he's convinced that if he told you that the voices would kill his female friend and the both of

you. It would explain why you may have not heard him saying or doing anything out of the blue because he's terrified of the consequences." the doctor paused and

continued. "Is he currently taking medication for mental illness?" "No. He's epileptic so all he takes are his pills for seizures. Why would that have anything to do with

anything?" Shoichirio scoffed. "Depending on the length he's had this condition and the severity, it's probable that the seizures may have altered neurotransmitter

balance or even the structure of his brain." The boys parents sighed and asked what else they needed to know. "We're going to prescribe your son two medications.

300 mg of Seroquel and 60 mg of Prozac. Make sure he takes both once a day and make sure that he knows what they do and how to use it. Here are things you

should look out for." the doctor smiled. "When can he come home?" his parents asked. "Tomorrow hopefully. That is if he passes a psychiatric evaluation."


	6. A Letter, a Date, and Awkward Moments

**Chapter 6: A Letter, a Date, and Awkward Moments  
**

4 years later

* * *

When Shig went to the hospital four years ago, Mayu was completely unaware of what had happened to him. Shig never told her. Her classmates never told her. She

was left completely in the dark and her life with her friend was practically the same. It was one rainy Tuesday when Sakutaro hatched a clever plan. While in drama

club practice, he devised his plan of giving Mayu a secret admirer note. He loved the idea of confessing some of his feelings while remaining anonymous and leading

her on. It was perfect! When he got home, he went straight up to his room to the computer to write ideas for how to approach Mayu in the letter. "You're the one."

he paused while typing. "No, that sucks. C'mon, Shig think. What would a girl like her want to hear?" He hit his head against his desk repeatedly out of frustration.

"Honey, what's going on? Is everything alright?" His mother had heard the sounds from the living room and had to make sure her child was alright. "I'm fine mom!

I'm working on something important!" he yelled, obviously denying his anger due to writer's block. "Now, Sakutaro, don't lie to me. What's wrong?" Kumiko asked her

frustrated son. "I can't tell you! It's none of your business!" Kumiko was obviously very agitated with him so she forced him out of the way to see what he was up

to. She saw that he was attempting to write a love letter for his childhood friend. "Honey, why didn't you tell me? There's nothing to be ashamed of." Kumiko smiled

and tightly hugged her son. "Because I don't want Mayu to know. It's supposed to be one of those secret admirer things." he confessed. "That's such a romantic and

gentlemanly gesture. She'll be all over you." "I highly doubt it. I don't think she likes me like I do. That's why I want to keep it a secret for her. If she reacts positively,

then after awhile I'll tell her the truth at the right time. But that's only if she likes it." Morishige was embarrassed that his mother knew of his plans to woo Suzumoto,

yet she did offer some comfort. "Remember to be subtle in hinting at who wrote the note. Don't want it to be too obvious, but not too vague either. If she finds out

you wrote it after reading the thing, then you need to make sure she returns your feelings and that your friendship isn't impaired. You don't want to look desperate

or cliche." she advised him. Shig had to put it in her locker in the morning while she wasn't looking, but he didn't know her combination and he didn't want to get in

trouble for breaking into her locker. He refocused his attention back to what the letter would say and spent all night working on it. He groggily got up the next

morning; his only motivation for moving was giving her the secret admirer note. "Hey Shig, bro! What's goin' on? Did you lose sleep last night?" Mayu questioned. His

long, exhausted like yawn reverberated throughout the halls as students were filling them up. "Hold up, Shig. I gotta go use the bathroom and then we'll go to

homeroom, okay?" she waived to him like she was leaving an airport. While Mayu left him for a moment to look after her things, Morishige caught Seiko by the arm to

get her to help him with his letter dilemma. "Seiko, you hang out with Mayu a lot. Do you know her locker combination? I need to give her this letter but I want it to be

a secret." "Why? Are you trying to seduce that sweet girl? Because if you are then I'll finally win my bet with Yoshiki." Seiko chuckled. "Woah, what bet?" Morishige

asked irritated and embarrassed at the same time. "O, it's nothing. Me and Yoshiki made a bet on when you and Mayu will finally fuck. So far it looks like I'm going to

so win." "Are you serious? I don't want to ughh...'fuck' Mayu. I want to slowly admit my feelings anonymously and I plan on asking her on a date if she likes it."

Sakutaro said, clearing up any confusion. "I see. And then on your date you'll fuck?" Seiko wondered. "No! I'm not doing something so you can win some bullshit bet!

I respect Mayu too much for me to even think about trying that. I want to marry her..." Shinohara couldn't help but interrupt his speech. "Hold on there. That's a big

step your going for and you two aren't even dating. Maybe you should set your sights on the little things like asking her out sometime and then after a while you can

think about getting married." Seiko advised, her eyes gleaming down on his. "We've been together for years!" Shig reasoned. "That's not the same thing as dating.

When your dating, you form a relationship that is much deeper than friendship. It's really hard to explain since you have to be in that scenario to fully understand it,

but if you and Mayu decide to take that next big step in your lives then you can slowly work as a team and get closer and closer to each other." Morishige had to

agree with Seiko on this. He didn't know much about what dating is really like, but with the both of them being really close every one around them just assumed they

were a couple and from there he formed his impression of what being a boyfriend and girlfriend is like. "Will you still help me out?" "Okay, but just promise you'll think

about what I said. I don't want to see you guys ruin your relationship." Seiko commented as she walked off to break into Mayu's locker. "Ready for class, Shig?" Mayu

smiled when she returned to her patient friend. Mayu was still clueless as to what he had just done. "Sure." he replied. Homeroom had Morishige on his toes as he

anticipated Mayu's actions after class. All he could think about was how Mayu would act to getting a love letter from someone she didn't totally know and if he would

be able to pursuit her. After class, Mayu dropped off her heavy trigonometry and geometry book to swap with her physics book. "What's this?" Mayu wondered as she

noticed the petite white envelope with the blue lattice trim. "Secret admirer, huh? Who on earth could it be?" She took the note in great stride.

* * *

"Dear Mayu,

You may not want to respond to my letter that I write to you, and that's okay. But would you spare a minute to hear how I feel about you?

Your brown hair is so delicate looking and soft. Your emerald eyes sparkle every time I see you. Your heart is made of 24 carat gold. I've wanted to tell you how much

I've loved you for quite some time but I don't think you like me the way I do and that's why I've been hesitant to tell you. I would like to test my hypothesis by

asking you to go on a date with Sakutaro Morishige so I can observe and eventually gain the confidence to tell you my feelings in person.

Sincerely,

Your Secret Admirer"

* * *

"Why would they want me to go on a date with you? To observe? That's weird." Morishige commented. "Yeah, that's really strange." Mayu said. "Should we try their

idea? It's not like they're hurting anyone and we'd be helping a good person out." Shig said, looking down at the polished floor. "How do you know if they're a good

person? Sounds more like a stalker to me and stalkers creep me out." Mayu said, her voice rising. "I'm sure they're only trying to be nice. I highly doubt they mean any

harm towards you. Think about it, Mayu. Who would dare harm you? You're the kindest, most selfless and most honest person I know." he told Suzumoto, while still

avoiding eye contact with her. "There's always that person out there that just loves to hurt other people simply because they enjoy it. I feel bad for them because

they don't usually have someone to confide in, but hurting others isn't ever the right thing to do. Still, I don't want to hurt their feelings but I can't do what they want,

no matter how much they like me." Mayu told him, her face furrowed with thought. "Looks like you blew it dude." Kito laughed slightly at the distressed boy. "Kito, no

one asked you. You're supposed to be out of my head because of the medicine yet you still show up unannounced and hinder my progress." he told his disembodied

bully. Mayu heard his conversation with himself and assumed he was trying to make her laugh, which he did and also took her mind off the letter. "Shig, you're so silly.

C'mon, we'll be late for class if we don't get moving." While they walked down the halls, Mayu's arm wrapped around his arm, Morishige had to question her. "Why

were you laughing earlier?" "You. You were being so funny talking to yourself." she replied. Morishige knew that she was unaware of his schizophrenia, so he played

along so he wouldn't upset or frighten her. "What can I say? I'm a comedian at heart." When Morishige and Mayu got to their desks, Naomi went up to Shig and asked

about his attempt to win Mayu's heart. " So, Morishige, how did the whole secret admirer thing go?" she smiled while using her fingers to mess up his hair. "What are

you talking about?" Shig knew he had to play dumb because if Mayu figured out he wrote that stupid love letter, she'd never want to be with him ever again. "You

know what I'm talking about. You tried to get Suzumoto to fall for you." Nakashima frustratedly told him, tapping her foot out of annoyance for him. "Fine, you win. But

who told you?" "Seiko. She's been on about it all morning saying, 'He's so cute trying to woo Suzume. They're the cutest couple.' She's really proud of you finally

stepping up to the plate and finally confessing your love." Naomi said while jokingly poking his arm. "She didn't blab to Mayu did she?" Sakutaro panicked. "No way.

Seiko would never do something like that." Naomi said while she walked to her desk in the back of the room. Seiko had just gotten into class when Shig stopped her.

"Seiko, a word please." he said whispering while she stood next to him. "What is it Morishige? Did Mayu find out yet?" she giggled. "No, but everyone else has. Why

the hell did you go tell everybody?" he shouted but in a whispering way. "O hush now, Morishige. You're overreacting to thi..." Seiko said before he interrupted her.

"Fuck your mother!" Shig said through gritted teeth. "Dude, chill. No need to be so uptight." Mayu and Ayumi were observing Morishige and Seiko talking to each other.

"What's going on between those two?" Mayu wondered. "Seiko's just giving him a hard time like she always does." Ayumi smiled at her while she leaned against

Mayu's desk. They could see both of them flailing their arms and silently yelling at one another which amused both girls. "Hey, Shinohara are you giving this kid a hard

time?" Yoshiki asked Seiko who kept poking fun at an enraged Morishige. "O come now, Yoshiki. I was just having fun. It's not like I hurt his feelings or anything." she

scoffed while taking her seat next to Mochida. "Just leave the guy alone." he bellowed while talking now to Shig. "Are you alright? Did Seiko bother you?" "She's such

a pest. She can't keep her damn mouth shut and feels the need to reveal really awkward secrets to the whole fucking world!" Morishige told a confused Kishinuma

while he pounded down on his desk. "What secret? You can trust me. I know secrets are called secrets for a reason so you don't have to worry about me telling

anybody." he told the angered, trembling, mess of navy hair teen. Yoshiki was the kind of guy who loved secrets but he knew that they were super important and was

hoping to give Sakutaro someone to confide in. "Ok, but only if you promise to not go around telling everybody like Seiko tried to." Morishige told the blond teen while

he cleaned his glasses of smudge marks. "I wrote Mayu a 'secret admirer' note and it was the most pathetic thing ever. It made me look so obvious and desperate."

he frowned. "Alright then. I won't mention a word of this to anyone, especially your girlfriend." Yoshiki promised. "Mayu's not my girlfriend! I love her and all, but she

doesn't love me back, but when she does then I'll tell her." "That's not what I heard." he snickered. "Are you for real? Why would you lie about something like that?

She doesn't love me!" Morishige cried, the tears streaming down his flushed face. "I'm sorry! I didn't mean to upset you. It's just a rumor..." he told his crying friend.

"Go away!" Shig screamed at Yoshiki, but it was really quiet because his throat felt really dry. Yoshiki walked away and sat at his desk, propping his feet up on it.

"What did you say to him?" Mayu questioned. "Nothing." he scoffed. "Doesn't look like nothing." she remarked. Ms. Yui walked into the class as soon as Mayu was

about to yell at Kishinuma. "Mayu. Yoshiki. What's going on in here?" "Nothing, Ms. Yui." they replied. "Good. Now I just got word from the school board that you kids

get a half day today, so you'll be in homeroom all day. We'll be watching _The Notebook _during our time in class." she smiled. "Isn't that a chick flick?" the boys groaned.

"Yes, if that's what you want to call it. There won't be a problem now will there?" Ms. Yui replied to her annoyed students. "No." they pouted. The boys all tried their

hardest to avoid gagging at how icky sweet they felt the movie was but Morishige, while still unhappy about watching a girly movie, did take mental notes of what the

couple did together. He did feel some type of connection with the male main character and saw how he wooed his wife and how despite the fact she developed

Alzheimer's, he still loved her and tried his best to get her to remember him and all they did together. Mayu saw how romantic the couple were and envisioned herself

and Morishige being together forever and dying together. Also, much like the other girls, she did cry a lot and absolutely loved the movie. After school was done and

over with, Morishige asked Mayu if she wanted to hang out at his house today. "Sure. It's a date!" Mayu smiled, giving him a peck on the cheek. "If that's what you see

it as then I won't object." was his response. But in his head he was doing somersaults and fist-bumping the air. When they got to his house, they both agreed to play

Diddy Kong Racing on the N64. Yet before they could have fun with such an awesome game, Mayu really had to use the bathroom. "Hey, Shig. Mind if I use your

bathroom?" Mayu said discretely. "Sure. Go right ahead." he smiled. She felt like a huge weight was lifted off her shoulders when she was finally able to relieve herself.

She hummed to herself, a habit she had since her mother and father first attempted to potty train her all those years ago. She noticed a medium sized orange

container with some paper on it that was lying on the counter of the sink. Mayu knew it was wrong to look at people's personals, but she didn't mean any harm and

her curiosity would've killed her if she didn't look. It was a bottle of small, almost oblong, white tablets. "Hmm...Must be something important." she thought to herself.

She turned it over to the front to see who it belonged to. "Morishige, Sakutaro. Take one 300 mg tablet every day. Seek medical help in case of: severe allergic

reaction, changes in thoughts, mood, or behavior. In case of suicidal thoughts or behaviors, go immediately to the emergency room." Mayu read the name of the

medicine on the bottle. "Quetiapine? That's a fancy word. I wonder what it could mean? It must be some powerful stuff." Mayu said, gently putting the medication back.

She noticed another bottle of the same size with similar instructions and warnings. "Fluoxetine? 60 mg? Shig, bro what are you taking?" Mayu thought out loud. "You

alright, Mayu? You've been in there a while." Morishige said rather worried. Mayu didn't realize she had been in the bathroom for so long and she walked out to let

Morishige know she was ok. "How long was I in there?" she wondered. "10 minutes. Were you not feeling well?" A concerned look overtook Shig's face. "I'm fine. I was

just thinking about some stuff. Ya know?" Mayu giggled. "Got it." he nodded. They both had so much fun and at that moment, everything was right in the world. "Let's

do this again. Ok Shig?" Mayu asked, hoping he was really having as much fun as she was and also for having him finally go to her house and show off her room and

various other items she liked. "Yes! Yes! Yes!" Sakutaro replied bouncing up and down as if he were five years old again. Kumiko got home early and when she saw

Mayu at the house, she pulled her son to the side to question why she wasn't told about a guest coming over. "I didn't know if you'd let me, so I did it anyway and

we're having a lot of fun. Mayu's really happy and she wants me to go over her house sometime." "Honey, just tell me next time about something like this, alright? By

the by, you and Mayu didn't do anything you weren't supposed to did you?" mom said, changing her tone and subject matter slightly. "What kind of person do you

take me for, mom? I'm not like the other kids because I have some decency in regards to relationships and the whole...hmmm...sex thing isn't of any real concern to me

right now." he silently yelled at her. "Alright. Now get back with Mayu and have some fun." she smiled, rubbing her son's soft hair. When Mayu was ready to go home,

Morishige felt slightly off but he knew he couldn't keep her at the house. "I had a lot of fun, Shig. Let's do something like this again. How bout my house next time?"

Mayu shyly asked. "Sure. Your house. Call me when I can come over, ok? I'm already excited!" he squirmed. The kids hugged each other goodbye and Morishige

immediately prepped for his next date with Mayu.


	7. WTF Did We Just Do?

**Chapter 7: WTF Did We Just Do?  
**

Just a little heads up, but this chapter is the longest one by far. Either way, there is what I would consider a huge advancement in the plot and it will have further and

deepening impacts on our favorite couple. I've worked on this for weeks and put my heart and soul into it so please love it as much as I do.

* * *

"Daddy, is it ok if my friend comes over after school one of these days? I want to show them my room and all the stuff I like and maybe even go see a movie with

them." Mayu announced the next morning after her and Shig's little date. "It's fine by me if your mother allows it. Who do you plan to bring over?" Mayu's father asked,

his face showing a big smile but giving off a concerned vibe. "Shig. I...just want to show him some of my stuff and see a movie or a play after I introduce him around

the house and we hang out a little bit." Mr. Suzumoto was not pleased at all with his daughter's choice of visitor. "ABSOLUTELY NOT! I don't want any boys in your

room with you when we're not here!" he yelled, but not to be mean to Mayu. He was very genuinely concerned about a boy taking advantage of her and he not being

able to help his only child, his beautiful baby girl. "But daddy, Shig won't hurt me and we won't do anything naughty behind you and mom's backs. I promise." Mayu

protested. "NO, NO, and NO!" Ken'ichi yelled back to her. Yukie walked into the kitchen to find out what the hell her husband and daughter were going on about.

"What is with the shouting?" Yukie demanded. "I wanted to invite Shig over to hang out and daddy won't let him come over." Mayu cried. "She wanted to show him her

room and I don't want anything to happen while I'm not here!" he explained. "Mayu, is this true?" Yukie questioned. "Yes mommy." she bashfully admitted. "I'm not

saying they can't be together, but I want to see him now that he's older and interested in her." Ken'ichi calmly told his wife. "Shig doesn't like me like that, dad. We're

just friends. I like him as more than a friend, but he doesn't feel the same way. I'm not mad at him for it." Mayu admitted. Ken'ichi was still reluctant to have Morishige

over, but his daughter never asked for much and he didn't like it whenever she was sad. "Morishige can come over, but only while we're here. Have him come over for

dinner so we can see if he can be trusted." he flatly told Mayu. Suzume hugged her dad and thanked him for compromising with her. When she got to school, she

excitedly ran up to Morishige who was at his locker getting ready for homeroom. "What's up Mayu? You seem happier than usual." he smiled at her. "Shig, my dad said

we can hang out at my house but my dad won't let us be alone. The only way to get him to let you over was to invite you to dinner tomorrow night." Mayu's gaze

switching from happy to sad all at once. "It's fine. I just hope your dad isn't too crazy about having me over and isn't impossible to please." Throughout the day, Shig

would space out from time to time wondering how his first visit to Mayu's house would go. When Mayu noticed him not watching her, she opened up her laptop to look

up those strange drugs she saw yesterday. "What are they for?" she thought over and over again. When her search came up, she was beyond surprised when she

discovered their purposes. The first one was for schizophrenia while the second one was for depression. "Does Shig have these illnesses? He can't. He's so calm and

collected. He's been sad and sometimes acts strange but it's not anything to be concerned about. Is there something he's not telling me?" Mayu contemplated

approaching her friend about not being totally honest with her, but he'd wonder how she knew about the medication he takes and their friendship would be

demolished and her life would be over if he never wanted to see her again. She had to be slow and gentle with the questions. At lunch she weakly asked him how he

felt about friends being honest with one another. "Why are you asking me this, Mayu? Is something the matter?" Morishige's face was molding to a confused and

concerned look. "Is she onto my secret? Please, God don't let her know. If she finds out I won't be able to tell her the truth about how I feel and she'll feel really

uncomfortable around me. Then again, I wouldn't blame her. I'm such a fucking freak; nothing more, nothing less. Sometimes I think she thinks that way about me but

is too nice to say anything about it. But then I realize it's not true because Mayu is kind and honest and beautiful. It's just my depression and paranoia trying to get

the best of me." Sakutaro thought to himself. "Morishige, what's wrong with you? You've been out of it all day. Did you even listen to Suzume?" Satoshi questioned.

Morishige violently shook his head as he tried to get everything he was thinking about out of his head. "Satoshi, chill dude. It's between Mayu and Morishige. They'll

find a way to deal with their problems." Naomi reminded him. She sighed with a blush as she saw her dream boat sit back down, his fluffy brown hair accentuating his

beautiful face. "I know how they can fix their problems." Seiko whispered to Yoshiki who was in the middle of eating a huge meatball sandwich. He quickly gulped it

down to figure out her answer. "How?" Yoshiki snickered. "Fucking in Mayu's bed." she laughed silently or so she thought. "What's so funny Seiko?" Mayu questioned.

"Yeah. Is there something you two would like to share with us?" Naomi and Ayumi said simultaneously. "Hey, I was talking to Yoshiki and it's none of your business."

Shinohara proclaimed, her voice peppered with aggravation and humor. The table remained quiet for the rest of lunch and the whole incident made the rest of the day

very awkward for them. Mayu immediately forgave Shinohara when she apologized for her rude behavior but Morishige was still bitter about the whole thing. He

always tried to have the forgiving attitude Mayu had but he just wasn't able to forgive Seiko. He knew it was petty as hell, but still his mind wouldn't drop it. When he

got home, Morishige went straight up to his room and pulled out a shoebox from underneath his bed. Kito's and Naotaro's skulls were in there and he talked to them.

But how did Shig get these skulls? *enter the flashback; 1 month before*

* * *

It was a crisp, chilly September afternoon when Morishige left to go for a walk after school. He walked rather far, and came across the cemetery where his grandfather

and Kito were buried. He decided to pay Naotaro a quick visit to show his respects and pick a random flower that may still be alive this time of year and place it on his

grave. When Morishige got to the tombstone, it was just as he remembered it. The glazed, marble rock etched with poems and covered in flowers, letters and a flag,

for Naotaro's status as an army veteran, were still present and hit home for Shig just as much on the day of grandpa's funeral. "Grandfather, it's me, Sakutaro. I'm

sorry I haven't visited you in person lately, but you've come and gone in my head so I figured that it would practically be the same thing." Morishige admitted.

"Sakutaro..." a disembodied voice called out. Morishige looked all over to see who was calling his name but he didn't see anybody, which actually made him very

frightened. "Am I hallucinating again?" he questioned himself. He paced all over Naotaro's grave trying to figure out who was talking to him just now. "Was it

grandfather talking to me? No, he's dead. The dead can't talk, Sakutaro. That's what they taught you in therapy. I didn't make all that progress for nothing."

"Sakutaro..." the voice cried out again, this time much more clearly. "Is that you grandfather?" the boy questioned. "Sakutaro...take...my...skull..." he beckoned the

confused boy. "What? Why? And how?" Morishige was very flustered at this point. "So you can communicate with me better. Use...your...hands to free me from the

grave." Naotaro instructed Morishige. Morishige paused and looked at his small, pale hands and got to work digging up Naotaro's corpse. When he opened up the

casket, Morishige managed to get the skull off the skeleton without any trouble, much to his surprise. He used the closed casket to make his way out of that six foot

deep hole. "Morishige..." another voice called out. Sakutaro knew that voice from somewhere; it was young, arrogant, and familiar. He followed the sound of the voice

and stumbled upon Kito's grave. "Do I have to take your skull too?" he groaned with his eyes rolling in disgust. After what felt like hours to him, Morishige finally

grabbed Kito's skull and hopped out the grave. He was questioning himself but stopped early because he wanted to get out of there fast, and not have someone catch

him. He placed the skulls in his messenger bag and checked the time on his cellphone. It was 4:00; Shoichirio would be home in an hour. Shig had plenty of time, but

he still didn't dwaddle and got home in twenty minutes. "I just hope nobody finds out." *the flashback is over*

* * *

"What do you two want today?" Shig questioned the two. "Kito here told me you and that Mayu slut are going out on a dinner date." Naotaro commentated; his voice

was becoming harassing and mocking. "SHE IS NOT A SLUT!" Morishige screamed while throwing the skull across the room in pure rage. After he heard a slight cracking

sound, Shig ran over and proceeded to kick the skull while continuing to shout at his disembodied grandfather. "FUCK YOU! I'M GLAD YOU'RE DEAD!" He kept violently

kicking and screaming at Naotaro until a sudden, sharp headache started at the base of his cranium and snaked it's way throughout his entire body. He grabbed his

head and yelled and cried as the pain slowly became worse with every breath he took. Shig fell to the floor rolling and shouting very violently; he begged for this pain

to end. "That's what you get for disrespecting me!" the old man yelled at his grandson. "I'm sorry, grandfather! Please forgive me! Make this pain go away!" Morishige

was writhing in agony, crying so hard the tears flowed like an abundant stream and he hiccuped. "I don't think I will. In fact, I'm going to let Kito here teach you to

not talk back to me ever again." Naotaro smirked. "Please don't!" the boy yelled. But Kito didn't listen and induced a seizure similar to the one five years ago. Despite

not being conscious, Morishige could see himself outside of his body; he was convulsing very horribly and he had bitten his tongue, as evidenced by the slight trickle

of blood oozing out of his mouth while mixing in with the drool. He laid there for about two minutes before finally awakening and hearing his father coming home from

work early. "Sakutaro, get down here. I need to have a word with you." he called out to his teenage son. "Gngh..." Morishige groaned then announced, "Coming dad!"

He walked down those stairs, rubbing his eyes from the tiredness the seizure brought, and saw his father sitting on the couch, a stern look had engulfed his aged

face. "Is something wrong?" the boy innocently asked. "Sit down, boy." Shoichirio commanded the worried young man. "I got a call from your mother that she got from

Mrs. Suzumoto saying that Mayu invited you over for dinner at their house tomorrow night." His eyes were fixed on Shig, who looked away from dad silently. The

silence was ended when Shoichirio hugged his son. "What's going on?" Sakutaro questioned, trying to wiggle his way out of dad's embrace. "Nothing's wrong. I'm just

so proud of you finally having a girlfriend! Now remember, first impressions are always key, especially with the girl's dad. He won't let you see Mayu if you fuck it up."

Mr. Morishige said getting all teary eyed. "Dad, Mayu's not my girlfriend. We're just friends. I love her with all my heart, but she..." A surprised Shoichirio interrupted his

teenage son. "I see, you like her but she doesn't? It's okay, Sakutaro. Maybe she does like you but she thinks you don't like her back. That's what happened with your

mother and me. She would always look away from me and smile until one day I manned up and asked her who she was really looking at. I wanted her to say it was

me she was always eying but at the same time I was praying she wouldn't because I was afraid of the reaction I'd give and the one her friends would give her. I didn't

want her to get bullied because of how she really felt about me. Anyways, she admitted it was me she would look at and I finally confessed my feelings too and

here we are today with you as our boy." "Thanks, dad but I'm going to play it slow just in case." Shig told his dad as he ran back upstairs. Shig checked his phone and

saw three missed calls from Mayu and a concerned text wondering why he hadn't responded. He immediately called Mayu to let her know he was ok, but when he

finally got through to her phone she wasn't on the other line. Rather, it was Mr. Suzumoto wondering why Morishige was calling his daughter. "Why are you calling my

daughter?" Ken'ichi angerly asked him. "I'm sorry Mr. Suzumoto, but I had three missed calls and Mayu got worried and I wanted to let her know everything was

alright." Morishige explained. "Why didn't you reply right away? My daughter's been worried sick about you and you just go and ignore her? I honestly don't know

what she sees in you." Mayu's dad huffed and scoffed. "Dad! What are you doing with my phone! Let me talk to him!" Suzume yelled in a humorous tone with very

slight traces of anger. "Mayu! When did you come in?" Ken'ichi asked startled. "I've been here the whole time. Why were you in my room in the first place?" she asked

him. "Mayu, I am your father and I have every right to look at your things. It's my job." Mayu's dad was very mad at her and walked out of her room to which he was

almost immediately yelled at by his wife. "Who the hell are you to talk to our daughter that way?" Yukie screamed at him. "I will do as I see fit and I won't let her get

hurt!" Ken'ichi yelled back and just as loud too. "You can't control every aspect of her life. She will get hurt one day and that's that. That's how life is." Mr. and Mrs.

Suzumoto kept going back and forth on each other and screaming their lungs out over how to discipline Mayu. "Mayu...Are you still there? Are you hurt? I'm sorry I

didn't call earlier but my dad was talking my ear off and I couldn't get to you on time. Please don't be mad." Morishige pleaded with her. "I'm fine, Shig." her tears were

flooding her eyes. "But I have to go. I'm sorry. This is my fault. Please don't hate me." Mayu cried very hard and almost hung up the phone before Shig replied back to

her. "Mayu, I will never hate you. There's nothing you could possibly do to get me to hate you. Whatever happens I'll always be there for you like you've done for me

all these years." Now even Morishige started crying his face off. Mayu sniffled and dried her eyes. "Thanks Shig. You're so good to me. I don't know how you put up

with my petty problems." "Mayu, you never have petty problems especially the one going on right now. Parents fighting is always very serious. If something really bad

happens, you can come over to my house to chill while your mom and dad cool off, ok?" Mayu cheered up slowly and eventually double checked to make sure Shig was

still coming over tomorrow night. "Of course I'm coming over Mayu! I wouldn't miss this for the world!" Sakutaro yelled excitedly.

* * *

The next day, Mayu and Morishige both impatiently waited for the school day to end. They were caught up in a mix of fear and excitement as they both wondered how

this whole "date" would go and if would impact the future in any sort of way. When Shig got home, he went and practiced his behavior so he wouldn't say anything

stupid and so he could prep himself for any kind of questions or comments Mayu's parents had for him. He also prepped himself for any type of scenario that may be

considered just straight awful. Mayu eagerly awaited for dinner and Shig to roll around. She wanted her mom and dad to like him because although he may seem odd

on the outside on the inside he was the sweetest, honest, and best guy she knew. There was nothing she couldn't love about him; even his glasses he wore made

him super cute to her. "C'mon mom! It's 6:00! I need to be at Mayu's house in 10 minutes! Let's go!" the nervous boy groaned. "Alright. Alright. Let's get going!"

Kumiko insisted. When Morishige got into Mayu's driveway, his mother kept trying to readjust him to make sure all would go well. She would slick down stubborn stray

hairs and would make sure his shirt was tucked in and everything was neat and orderly. "Mom, stop! I'm fine. Everything will be fine. Now let me go, please." Shig

begged his mother who had grown teary eyed at how grown up her little boy has become. "Ok, honey. Have a great time and remember to be on your best behavior

tonight. Call me when you want to come home, alright? Love you!" she told her son as she left. When Morishige turned around, he saw Mayu standing on the front

porch with her head leaning in her hand. Morishige's face blushed with embarrassment and looked away at the ground while he played around with his feet. "How

much did you hear?" he asked her while on the verge of tears. "I heard everything. Don't worry, Shig. There's nothing to be ashamed of. Your mom is very sweet and

you should be thankful that she loves you so much." Mayu chuckled while guiding her friend up the stairs and into the house. When they got in the house, Mayu's dad

demanded that Shig take off his shoes; he feared that if he started dirtying up his home he would do the same to his precious Mayu. "Mom. Dad. You remember Shig,

right?" she smiled at them before facing her friend with those beautiful, innocent eyes and kissing his cheek. Morishige felt his muscles tense up and his forehead

sweating profusely. Ken'ichi grew a bit more suspicious of him and watched him further during dinner. "So, Sakutaro, what do you do?" Ken'ichi began interrogating

him. "Well, Mr. Suzumoto, I'm in the drama club with Mayu and I like to watch plays and mess around with photo albums." he proudly told the paranoid father. "Mayu

says you two are very close." He just wouldn't stop bugging him. "Of course we are. She's always there for me and whenever I'm depressed she brings me out of it."

Morishige replied after finishing his last piece of a roll and sushi. "That's good. That's good. Now what do you plan on doing with my daughter in the future?"

"I...uhhhhh...I...I..." Morishige shook and stuttered. "Honey, you're scaring him! Stop badgering the poor boy." Yukie rose her voice at her husband. "Yeah, daddy.

Don't scare him. I don't want to lose my best friend." Mayu whined. Mr. Suzumoto knew he was outnumbered so he apologized to Morishige and changed his tone up.

"Mayu, why don't you show him your pet?" her father told his slightly upset daughter. "Alright, I'll go get him." Mayu bounced with glee and jogged upstairs. When she

came down into the living room, Mayu had a small Corn snake slithering on her shoulders. "Mayu, there's a snake on you! Can't you see it?" Sakutaro cried with terror.

"Shig, this is my pet snake. I...ummm...named him after you." Mayu had forgotten how much her friend hated reptiles, especially the scaly little devil she called her pet.

Morishige was not very flattered that such a vile creature would share the same nickname Mayu had given him, but he kept his cool and did his best to go along with it

smoothly. "Don't worry, Shig. He doesn't bite. He's kind and gentle like you." Mayu insisted while guiding Shig's hand to touch the snake. He shuddered at the rough

texture of the snakeskin, but very lightly patted Shig to pretend everything was alright. The snake gave Sakutaro a light lick and he yanked his hand back. "Aw...He

likes you! Isn't that just the sweetest thing you've ever seen?" Mayu smiled at her friend who tried to wipe off the little thing's saliva. When their dinner date was

over, Ken'ichi apologized to Shig who instantaneously forgave him. "Young man, you seem like a very mature, polite and responsible young adult. If you ever want to

visit Mayu while me and her mother aren't here, I'll allow for it. However, if you in any way hurt my baby girl, I will make your life a living fucking hell. Got it?" Morishige

nervously nodded his head. Mayu hugged him tightly and whispered into his ear, "Please come over next Thursday. Friday's a teacher's convention so we can hang out

as long as we want to. I'm excited." Morishige gulped loudly as his throat became bone dry from fear but he agreed to her plans because he didn't want to mess

anything up. "Ok. Thank you all for having me over. I'll have to repay you somehow." Shig told the family as he left for his mother who was waiting for him in the car.

* * *

The week seemed to go slower than ever on purpose so that Morishige and Mayu would be miserable while having to wait for their other little date on Thursday.

Mayu's dad had let Morishige stay at Mayu's house without him there but only when he was close to getting home from work and they promised not to go into Mayu's

bedroom. Shig was really intrigued about seeing her room so he could see if she had any sort of thing that could clue him in on whether or not she liked him and he

tried to convince her to lie to her dad, but Mayu was the kind of person who felt guilty just even thinking about lying and politely refused Shig's request. By the

time Thursday would have rolled around, Mr. Suzumoto gained more trust in Morishige and allowed him to visit Mayu's room then because he knew that if something

bad had happened Mayu would tell him the truth. Seiko had stopped teasing them about doing the do, and tried to gain their confidence again which she had

managed to pull off. The minute school had let out, Morishige and Mayu met each other in the lobby while hugging each other tightly. Mayu also felt it fit to guide Shig

by the hand as if he had forgotten where she lived. Mayu took Shig up to her room to proudly show it off. It was very girly and cutesy with Hello Kitty being the main

theme, but Morishige didn't mind. In fact, he had loved that cat since he was a little kid. Cats always comforted him. He sat on her bed while she was describing every

little microfiber of the room. "SHIG! Are you even listening?" said Mayu with a raised voice. The sudden loudness frightened him since he had never heard or seen Mayu

shout. "Did I scare you?" she said feeling terrible. "Yeah. I'm fine though." he smiled. He noticed an old photo of Mayu and him when they were in kindergarten. They

were both bubbly, happy kids back then. Somehow Mayu was blessed with the gift to retain that feature in every aspect of her life, but Morishige was not as fortunate.

"O man, I remember that! That's when we had our first play date. You were so cute back then." she said rather giddily. "You're still cute, Mayu." Morishige said, not

changing his focus. Then at that moment he realized what he had said and he was hiding his crimson stained face with his hands. Mayu blushed a little but was rather

confused. "Did you call me cute? Like baby cute or you like like me cute?" Morishige was frozen in fear for what felt like hours to him. "The latter." he confessed. Mayu

smiled at him. "There's no shame in being in love with someone so long as you don't intentionally hurt them." "We're friends, Mayu! We're not supposed to fall in love!"

he said still hiding his face. "But, Shig..." she trailed off, "I love you too. The same way you love me." He lifted his face up into her sparkling eyes. "Really?" "Of course,

Shig. I'd never lie to you." Mayu sat down next to him and rested her head against his shoulder. Morishige could feel his skin heating up and tingling just from Mayu's

slight touch and then he did something he'd never thought he'd do. He finally kissed her. Mayu was surprised by his actions but went along with it. After all, she

wanted him to do it. When he realized what he was doing, Morishige pushed Mayu away. "I'm sorry, Mayu. I can't do this. I love you more than life, but I don't want

our lives to be ruined if we continue." he said sternly. "Shig, nothing will be ruined. In fact, it will be made better. Please kiss me again." she begged. Morishige couldn't

resist Mayu whenever she was pleading so he followed her request and kissed her again. Sweetly. Tenderly. For the first time in his life, Morishige felt like he was in

heaven and Mayu was the source of it all. Mayu moaned softly into him. She was thinking of other things her friend wasn't thinking of and she took off her school

blouse. "Hmnn?" Morishige was confused. "Mayu, what are you doing? Put that back on!" Now he started to sound like her father. "What's wrong? I thought I was

doing a good thing." she said innocently. "I don't know if we should do 'that'." he replied. "Have you ever heard of the term 'making love'?" Mayu said. "Of course. I'm

not a moron." he said rather defensively. "That's what I want to do with you. We both want it and you know it." she said starting to sound like her mother. "What if

you get pregnant? I don't want anything to happen to you. I love you..." he trailed off before Mayu kissed his cheeks and removed his jacket. "Don't worry. I know it's

risky, but what's life without any risks? I'm not doing this because I'm a girl who only cares about sex, I'm doing this because I love you just as much you love me. If

something happens I'll find a way to hide it from daddy." Mayu promised. Morishige was still reluctant, but he knew deep down he couldn't fight his urges. He and Mayu

were sprawled all over her plush bed that had so much on it but they both managed to push it all off. He sat on his knees with himself towering over her and took off

his shirt and his pants. Morishige was embarrassed that he had an erection but Mayu didn't mind. It could've been something absolutely horrible but it wasn't. "Aren't

you forgetting something?" she smiled. Morishige was confused but then noticed his X-Men briefs still on him. "Do I take them off?" he asked with child like innocence.

"That's how people do it. Didn't you ever go to those health classes?" she said, teasing him. He didn't say a word and took off his last article of clothing aside from his

glasses. He crawled out completely over her and only slightly put his member in. Mayu gasped out at the sensation but then sighed into pleasure as he gradually put

more in. "How does it feel?" he asked Mayu, concerned if she was as comfortable as he was. "It's wonderful! I...want to make love to you even more now." He sighed

with relief and thrusted very slowly and lightly. Mayu grabbed his face and kissed him sweetly. "O...Shig...I've never loved you more than I do right now! Please go

faster." Shig knew he was in the clear and sped himself up to which both he and Mayu moaned. They were both fortunate that Mayu's mom hadn't come home from

work yet because they were being really loud. Morishige felt like he was going to lose it, he had never felt so good before. While he was thrusting he felt something

inside of Mayu. He knew what it was but asked her permission before he would continue. She nodded her head and scrunched her face. Her best friend, her one true

love, had taken away her virginity. He looked down at her to make sure she wasn't in agony. "That did hurt, but I know it'll get better especially since you are here

with me in this moment. Something that couldn't be more beautiful even if we tried." Mayu said, almost at a loss for words because she couldn't describe how satiating

this felt. Their love had never been stronger than right now and Morishige wanted to make sure Mayu was as happy and confident as he was. "Tell me how much you

love me, Mayu! I want to hear if it's the truth!" Mayu wasn't able to speak in full sentences to her new found lover. No that wasn't quite right. It was more like

boyfriend to her. "Ooohhh...I...love...you Shig! More! Don't...stop!" Mayu cried. Morishige loved every little face Mayu made, every little sharp breath she took, and the

fact that she was really in love with him, as he was with her. All these years of self doubt about each others feelings towards the other and all the hardships endured

were what brought them closer together. He really was happy Mayu was in his life because if she wasn't he would've killed himself by now and the thought of Mayu

not being happy because of him would drive him over the edge. Morishige was brought away from his thoughts and back into the real world as Mayu intertwined a

hand in his hand and the other hand mingling with his navy hair that started to cling to his forehead from sweat. Shig ran the back of his hand against her eyebrows

and trailed it down to her soft, rosy cheeks and her perked lips. Mayu was ready, willing, and excited when he started to lick her lips practically begging for entry into

her hungry mouth. She closed her eyes in anticipation and eagerly opened her waiting mouth. Mayu moaned and panted into him while simultaneously wrapping her

arms around the back of Shig's neck to deepen the kiss. All the while Morishige hadn't let up on his thrusts for his body and tongue which seemed to enhance the

moment. "O god, Shig! More! Harder! Faster! Shig...Shig...Shig...Shig! Please don't stop!" Her nails started to embed themselves into his back while Sakutaro threw his

head back and questioned and professed his love for Mayu. "How...long have you...felt this way about me, Mayu?" "Since we were 10! Six years I've waited to tell you

and now we are making love and confessing the love too!" "O...Mayu...Mayu...you're so amazing! I love you so much!" Morishige screamed. Neither one had expected

these raw feelings, these raw emotions to come to the surface in such a way. Mayu's face had turned a crimson red with slight touches of embarrassment at being

touched and loved in such a new way but also with the fact that she was feeling a new type of euphoria that could not be matched in school or even family life.

Morishige had always heard about how you should wait till you at least fall in love with someone before you had sex, make love, whatever you want to call it and

despite his fears he loved his and Mayu's special moment and knew that they really shouldn't do this often because the emotion and care wouldn't be there and both

of them didn't want to be or like the stereotypical sex crazed, irresponsible teenager. To Shig and Suzume, there wasn't a single damn care in the world then and

there. They were at peace and their true feelings have finally been made known to each other which couldn't have come at a better time for them. Morishige buried his

face into her neck, his heated skin heating up her own skin. They both yelled each others names with such passion and joy as they finished up. "Mayu...I...that was

amazing. I've never felt so happy in my life." he panted. "Shig. What I said before was true. It wasn't something said because of the moment. I really meant it. I don't

want to be with anyone but you. You're the best friend and best boyfriend anyone could ask for." Mayu told him, her eyes piercing his soul. Morishige didn't understand

what she meant by that. Boyfriend? Him? With Mayu? "When did I become your boyfriend?" he asked her. "Just now, silly." she said, poking the tip of his nose with a

wide smile on her face. "By the way Shig, I had a hunch from the beginning that you wrote that secret admirer note. I just pretended to not know you wrote it because

I wasn't sure how to take it in a public place. I was scared we'd be looked at funny if I told you then and there at my locker how much I love you." "It's ok, Mayu. Truth

be told, I haven't always been honest with you." he breathed and then resumed, "Remember four years ago? The day you broke your leg, I tried to kill myself because

of the voices I was hearing but I wound up in the hospital because Satoshi saved my life. When I was there they gave me these pills for depression and schizophrenia.

I've kept it a secret for so long because I was ashamed of myself for having those illnesses and was afraid that you'd feel uncomfortable around me." Mayu was

confused at his words. "Why would you be ashamed of yourself? Admitting you know something's wrong and taking steps to fix it is very brave. Besides, at least now

that we're together as boyfriend and girlfriend we've started being open and honest and getting rid of our secrets. I think we've already made a huge step up and we

couldn't have done it without each other." Mayu told him. After Morishige and Mayu had finally admitted their feelings they both crawled under the soft blankets.

"You're not uncomfortable are you? I mean are you sure the both of us can fit on here?" he wondered. "Shig, if I was uncomfortable I would've said something before

we had sex. There's plenty of space for the both of us. Stop worrying so much." Mayu smiled. Shig lay on his side just admiring Mayu while she was entranced by her

own ceiling. He moved his fingers through her soft hair, gliding his fingers through each strand and lay in awe of how majestic she was. Most people saw her as

average or kinda pretty, but to Morishige the beauty she possessed reached far past time and space. Simplistic beauty was just how he liked it and Mayu knew it too.

Mayu let out a grin and brought him closer to her so she could gain fuller access to his lovely mouth. She made sure every kiss shared between them had passion, had

meaning and that they would be enjoyed. She playfully nibbled on his lower lip and afterwards he gave her forehead a feathery kiss. "Always together?" he

questioned. "I promise. We'll have a family. We'll die in each others arms..." Morishige had to stop her for a minute. "Why so morbid?" "I've always thought it would be

romantic that when we die it'll be together and in our arms. I know that's crazy, and I don't think about it often but I thought it would be a true act of love." she said.

"I love how deep you are. It's so remarkable." Shig told her. Suzume blushed a cherry red and brought herself closer to him so she could nuzzle in between his neck

and shoulder. As soon as his heart had finally settled down from their lovemaking, Sakutaro felt it picking up it's pace in his chest and throat as he felt her head

against him, so close again. He looked down next to him and saw her sleeping peacefully and followed her lead. Yukie arrived an hour later, getting home earlier than

she had expected and went to check up on her daughter to make sure she and Shig were alright. "Mayu, are you in there?" she questioned, knocking on her bedroom

door. When she got no reply, she knocked harder and continued questioning. "Are you alright, honey?" Yukie grew mildly paranoid and announced that she was

coming in. "O, thank goodness. You're asleep. I thought something terrible had happened. Look! Sakutaro's making sure you're safe." she spoke out loud. Mayu's mom

was just about to leave when it finally crossed her mind that her daughter was in bed with her friend. In the nude. "Mayu! Wake up this instant!" she yelled. Mayu got

up frightened and tried to cover herself up while Shig just sat there frozen. "What do you think you're doing? Do you know what you've done? I can't believe my baby

girl would do something like this." Yukie cried. "Mom, it's okay. Shig and I...we're...we're in love!" the innocent girl proclaimed. "No you're not! That's just your

hormones talking!" "No it's not, mom!" Mayu yelled, scaring her mother speechless. "We've been in love since 5th grade and we just now confessed our love to each

other. I wanted to make love with him because I really love him and so doesn't he. Why can't I be truly in love with my best friend? Is it because I'm a teenager?" she

asked with a tone of annoyance and anger that seemed unfit for a girl like her. "No, it's just..." her mother trailed. "I'm sorry I yelled mom, but I'm not sorry for what

the both of us did together. It was beautiful and made us happy." Mayu interrupted. "Mayu, you know I love you very much. I'm just worried if this will consume your

life." Yukie told her. "We both promised each other to not go at it like a bunch of irresponsible kids and couples shouldn't break promises to each other." Mayu paused

and then thought, "Am I in trouble?" "Well...Only if you promise to not be irresponsible and try your best to support one another, then I guess I could let you off the

hook and keep this a secret from your father." Yukie smiled at her radiant green eyed child. "Thank you mom. I'm so glad you understand. Shig and I are also officially

boyfriend and girlfriend by the way. Aren't we, Shig, bro?" Mayu questioned him while leaning against his arm and locking eyes with him. It took him a little while before

the glazed look of fear had left his bright and beautiful green eyes, but Morishige confirmed with Mrs. Suzumoto what Mayu had told her. "Your daughter is the one

person who helps me understand that life is beautiful while also loving me unconditionally. She's just such...an amazing person and friend. I bet you and your

husband are very proud of her." Yukie didn't like making her daughter sad, but she just had to unload her tears of happiness. Both Mayu and Yukie hugged each other

in a loving mother-daughter embrace. "Mayu, I love you so much. I'm so proud of how mature you are and how polite your boyfriend is. I want the both of you to be

happy." "Mommy, you're the sweetest person ever. I'm just so happy you're not mad at us. Thank you for being so understanding." Mayu cried into her mom. When the

ladies were done crying, they looked at a still Morishige and gave him a thankful hug to which he tensed up his muscles with surprise. "Is there something I did

wrong?" Sakutaro asked worriedly. "Of course not." they said. "It's just that we're happy you both were finally honest with each other about your feelings." "O, by the

way, Mayu I take it you and Morishige aren't going to see a movie." Yukie double checked with Mayu. "Yeah. I just want to rest with Shig a little bit more until daddy

gets home. We're both really tired and this will be our first time that we sleep in each others arms so I want it to be special." Mayu replied back. Yukie nodded her

head and smiled at her daughter and left the room so Shig and Mayu could have more alone time. Morishige and Mayu knew that they could and would cherish this

moment forever and that their lives together would be everlasting.


	8. The Fallout

**Chapter 8: The Fallout**

* * *

The following Monday after Shig and Mayu's little..."moment"...the couple felt very strange around each other despite being madly in love. They thought everything

would be the same, but it turned out like many kids who had their first time; you love the person but you almost can't look at them the same and can't really imagine

being that intimate with another human being, especially if they're your best friend. The girls in homeroom noticed Mayu seemed off and not as lively as she always

was and had to see what was up. "Hey Suzume, what's wrong? Did someone hurt you? Did Morishige do something to you that you didn't want to do?" the girls asked

simultaneously. They all pulled up chairs around Mayu's desk to continue questioning her. "Did Morishige rape you?" Ayumi asked, almost blurting out the whole

conversation. "Of course not. He would never do that to me. He loves me...and I love him back..." Mayu stared down at the floor where her reflection captured her

confused and saddened face. "We finally admitted it to each other on Thursday...that we love each other...and...we..." Mayu felt her face flush with shame and her

meadow like eyes started to slowly leak out tears. "Mayu, what's wrong? We're your friends. Don't you trust us?" Ayumi reasoned. "I do...but I don't know how to talk

about it..." "It's ok if you don't want to tell us, we'll understand. Right?" Ayumi questioned the other concerned girls behind her. "Right!" Seiko and Naomi smiled back.

Morishige saw all the girls gathered around Mayu's desk and gently moved them out the way to gain access to Mayu. He lightly kissed the top of her ear and asked

what was wrong while running his fingers across her scalp and through her brown hair. He crouched beside her and wiped a finger under her eye to relieve her of

tears. "Thanks Shig. I feel a little bit better because of you." Mayu smirked gently. "Good. I have to get back to my desk now, but after class I'll walk us to physics. Is

that cool for you?" "That's fine by me. O before you go..." Mayu trailed before she slightly forced her boyfriend's body towards her to kiss him quickly but lovingly.

When they had withdrawn from the kiss, their faces had only slight tints of rosy pink on their cheeks mostly in part because they had forgotten that Seiko, Ayumi, and

Naomi were there; confused but trying to block everyone else's view. "Mmmmm...You're such a good kisser, Shig and you just made my day like you always do. Now

get to that desk of yours before Ms. Yui gets here and thinks you're goofing off." Mayu told him. Shig secretly smiled at her and while he got back to the desk Mayu

whispered to herself, "Shig, bro I love you so much. You're an amazing boyfriend." "Whatcha say there Mayu?" Naomi wondered. "Uhhhh...I didn't say a thing." was

Mayu's response. "I could've sworn I heard you saying something about Morishige being your beau." "N...nn...nn..o of course not. Why would you think that?" "C'mon,

Mayu. We all know you're a bad liar so why don't you be upfront and honest about it?" Mayu felt ashamed of herself not because she and Shig were together as a

couple, but rather revealing such sensitive information too soon. Seiko quickly left the circle and speed walked over to Kishinuma who was taking a morning nap on his

desk. "Hey, Kishinuma! Dude, wake up!" she silently yelled at him. The boy didn't wake up, so Shinohara kicked his shin to which Yoshiki groaned out in pain but not

enough so that anyone could've heard him. "Seiko, what's your deal? I was taking a morning snooze and you had to go..." he pointed out. "Shut up for a goddamn

minute and listen!" she interrupted. "I think Suzume and Morishige finally did it." "Are you pulling my leg, Seiko?" "No, I'm serious. I just heard Mayu call him her

boyfriend and before that they kissed and not like a peck on the cheek type of thing. O no, I'm talking about like they kiiiiiissssed each other to the point where it was

practically a mini make-out session." Seiko giggled. "And what makes you think that makes them boyfriend and girlfriend?" Yoshiki snidely replied back to her. "When

have those two ever shown any real public displays of affection? Never, that's when." Seiko said. Yoshiki pondered her words and agreed to Seiko's conspiracy theory.

Well, almost. "You're probably right, but just double check alright?" he commanded her as he propped up his legs and sat his fingers in his golden blonde head of hair.

"Seiko! What are you doing?" Mayu called out. "Nothing. Just messing with Kishinuma that's all." the mischievous teen lied. "Well, stop it and get over here!" Naomi

yelled. Seiko quickly shuffled her feet across the room back to Mayu's desk. "What's up Mayu?" "I've got to tell you all something, but you have to promise to not tell

another soul. I don't want Shig to be made fun of and have him break up with me." Mayu was still very apprehensive but she just had to get this off her shoulders.

"Shig and I are dating now." "Really? That's great, Mayu! Why were you so nervous about telling us?" they asked. "Because...that's not all. Me and Shig...we...we...

on Thursday...made love for the first time." Mayu felt so guilty telling her friends and for what she and Morishige did together. "Mayu, it's ok. You shouldn't feel bad.

We promise to not tell anyone." Naomi encouraged Mayu. "Yeah. We know this stuff is really personal and we respect that. We'll make sure no one knows. Alright?"

Ayumi smiled at her disheartened best friend. "Thanks, you guys. You always know what to say. I'm glad I can count on you. It makes everything that much better."

The day went on as normal like it always has and Mayu and Morishige sat even closer together at lunch to the point where it looked like cuddling. All week long nothing

happened, except for Friday when Naomi invited all her girlfriends to a slumber party at her house that night. "Hey Mayu, how would you feel about having a slumber

party at my house? The other girls in homeroom will be there too. So whadda ya say?" Mayu hadn't been to something like this since middle school and kicking it old

school sounded really fun to her. "I'll have to ask daddy. I'll call him the first chance I get." Mayu vowed. Suzume called Ken'ichi when she got to the bathroom and

pleaded with him let her go. "Why didn't you ask me earlier?" he asked his daughter. "I already told you. Naomi just mentioned it a few minutes before school ended."

Her father was silent for a little bit but after a minute of suspense he let her go. "Just come home first to get ready." "Ok, dad! Love you!" Mayu yelled with excitement.

"Love you too, sweetie." When Mayu got back to the house she was so excited but she was having a tough time deciding what pajamas to bring and if she should

bring her favorite plushie along with her favorite teddy bear. Mayu had to call her mother at work to get an opinion. "Mom, I'm sleeping over at Naomi's house tonight."

"Ask your father." Yukie quickly and sternly replied. "Daddy already said it was alright." Mayu cried. "Alrighty then. Have fun." Mrs. Suzumoto was in the middle of

hanging up the phone before Mayu protested the action. "Mom, is it weird that I want to bring over some stuffed animals to cuddle and snuggle with at bedtime?" "Oh

of course not honey! A girl can never get too old for her stuffed and fuzzy friends. Besides, your friends will think they're cute. I know I did when a friend of mine in high

school brought over a stuffed fish and polar bear to my sleepover." Yukie smiled. "Thanks for the help mom! You're a real lifesaver!" Mayu blissfully shouted out.

"Alright then, have fun at the sleepover!" "I will, mom. Love you!" Mayu jumped down the stairs as soon as she heard Naomi driving up to her house. "Glad to see you

could make it, Suzume! Get in. We gotta go get Seiko and Ayumi." After Naomi picked up her friends and drove them to her house, she forced her friends into her room.

"So what are we gonna do here?" Seiko questioned. "Well, I was planning us chilling out at my place for a bit, and then when you guys want we can go out and go

shopping and go out for a midnight screening of _The Room _later before we all hit the hay." "Isn't that movie really terrible? Why do you want to see a shit movie?"

Seiko protested. "Because it's funny bad. That's what I've heard with the reviews I read." The girls could use a good laugh on their night out so they concured with

Naomi's plans. Mayu took notice of a little children's book peeking out on Naomi's entertainment center and pointed it out. Naomi was rather annoyed that Mayu had

seen something like that and tried to hide it. "What's wrong Nakashima? I thought it looked rather cute." Mayu told her. "R...really? I've never thought anyone would

want to be my friend anymore if they found out I still have that thing and like to read it before bed. I know it's dumb...but I feel relaxed and safe when I read it." Naomi

blushed. "It's nothing to be concerned about. I brought a teddy bear and my favorite Hello Kitty plushie and I've had those since I was a baby and snuggle with them

at bedtime." Mayu opened her mini glow in the dark neon green backpack and brought out the two creatures she mentioned. "Awww...they're so cute, Suzume! We

can see why you like them so much." Ayumi spoke for everyone. "Thank you! If one of you wants to borrow one for the night I'll share. I don't mind at all." Mayu smiled.

"I know this is super bizarre but I want to read the book before we all go to bed. It's about a dragon who wants pancakes and how she makes her own for the first

time. You guys will think it's super cute." "I'm looking forward to it!" Mayu shouted and questioned, "Are we gonna go out now or what? I want to get a present for my

snake and for Shig's cat and buy some music and go to Yankee Candle and go to Le Crepes, Crepes, Crepes and..." "Mayu! Don't get overexcited now. Let's just have

fun one step at a time, ok?" Ayumi insisted. Mayu nodded her head and was the first of the girls out the door, not that is was a surprise to anyone. Mayu was not her

usual self when they got to the mall. She was kind and happy, but she was almost manic; a behavior she had never displayed. Ever. While Seiko dragged Naomi along

to go window shopping at Victoria's Secret, Ayumi walked across from them upon noticing a kid's clothing store with a particular display on baby fashion. "This is toooo

cute! Look at the tiny shoes and the little sweater-vests." Mayu also admired the cute, small clothes. "I adore babies! They're so sweet and innocent and adorable!"

Mayu exclaimed. The thought of babies also triggered Shinozaki to question if Mayu thought she was pregnant. "No way! Why would that happen?" Mayu worried.

"Because if you didn't use...ummmm...protection, then you could be pregnant. I know this is super weird, but all this baby talk just had me thinking." Ayumi replied.

"Not for me! I'm not like that. I'm pretty sure I'd know anyways." Ayumi knew Mayu wasn't completely stupid about conceiving or babies or anything really, but she still

wanted to make sure her friend knew what to look out for. "Did you miss your "time of the month"? That's a big tip off." "Ayumi, no I didn't. Everything's been normal.

Nothing has changed and I feel great. In fact, ever since Thursday I feel like a new me and I'm loving it!" Mayu grinned, her sunny face and expression lighting

everything up. "Oh, ok. But just be on the lookout please. For me. For you. For Morishige. Having a baby changes people, especially if they have them when they're our

age." Ayumi told Mayu. Mayu insisted that she would be watching for any changes in her body, and brought her to go get Seiko and Naomi to go to the crepe stand

she loved so much. Poor Naomi was getting forced by Seiko try on new jammies with sleeping teddy bears and try out those cute yoga pants Naomi had. Seiko just

had to have them as well, and see more up close how well they could fit her by observing Naomi, who was clearly very uncomfortable. "Hey guys! We're done with our

shopping. Are you two done?" Ayumi asked. "Sure. Sure. I just have to actually buy these first." Seiko said with excitement as she brought the bag they give you at

the front of the store full of clothes to the register. "Well hurry up. Mayu wants us to go to that crepe stand that she swears by. And we all know Mayu knows good

crepes when she sees them." When the girls had ordered their food, they sat down at the nearest table and asked each other what they had gotten. "Well, I got

myself some of those crazy shutter shades at the sunglasses kiosk and a Chimchar plush and a Pikachu backpack at that store that sells nothing but plushies. I also

got myself and Mayu pedicures." Ayumi smiled. Mayu blushed as she looked at her feet which glittered an emerald green to compliment her eyes. "That sounded really

fun. Seiko dragged me into Victoria's Secret after I got myself some games for my Xbox 360 and Super Famicom at that game store. You know? The one that sells retro

and new games. I love that place!" Naomi laughed while jabbing fun at Seiko, who was jabbing her friend back too. For the rest of the day, Mayu pondered what Ayumi

said to her. She was really intelligent, what with being the class rep and all, and she was taking classes on human development at school which meant Ayumi knew a

bit more about babies than Suzume did. Still, Mayu shrugged off the thought of being pregnant once their late night movie was over. When the girls had gotten back to

Naomi's house, Naomi wanted to read her favorite book to them. "And the dragon wanted to know how to make pancakes, so she asked her mommy how to make

them..." Naomi read. Mayu felt woozy and nauseous halfway during the reading and rushed to Naomi's personal bathroom. The girls all felt really bad for her because

she was throwing up like crazy after she was so bouncy and excitable just a few hours ago. "Are you doing ok? Do you need some ginger ale?" Seiko asked Mayu as

she stepped out. "No...I'm...fine. I think I ate too many crepes today and I got a tummy ache. Crepes are my ultimate weakness so it's really hard to resist them."

Suzumoto reasoned with Seiko. Seiko began thinking about how she was treating Mayu behind her back ever since she started throwing up a few minutes ago, and

began thinking about what would happen if this was just the beginning of Mayu getting pregnant. She knew it would have to be a little bit longer to confirm her

suspicions but the thought of the joking and betting with Yoshiki made Seiko second guess her actions and regret what she had done. "Are we gonna finish the story

or what? I want to hear how it ends! C'mon! I wanna hear how it ends!" Mayu whined akin to that of her kindergarten self. "Alright, Mayu. Come over and sit down."

"The dragon made her pancakes and they were the tastiest in the land. She was so proud of herself for being a big girl and made pancakes everyday forever!" Mayu

just loved how sweet and cute the story was much like everyone else. While Mayu and Seiko were the last two to go to sleep, Seiko shyly asked her friend for her

snow white teddy bear. Mayu grinned at the amber eyes trying to avoid her gaze and happily handed over the fuzzy bundle of love. Seiko fell in love with him instantly

and gave the bear an Eskimo kiss while feeling the silky smooth tie he wore. It was white with orange striping. And what was this? Actual silk? Seiko had never felt

something this soft in her life. "Where did you get this cute tie?" Mayu giggled and told her. "My dad is friends with a man who works for Gucci and he gives daddy ties

and other stuff for free. That tie is worth almost $200 American dollars." Mayu didn't like to brag about the nice things she had but her handsome teddy made it

practically impossible. "And the bear?" "My mom has connections and gets me those American teddy bears. I think they're from Vermont or something like that. They're

really nice too!" Seiko further inspected the bear and noticed how luxurious it felt once Mayu had described how expensive everything was. But Seiko wasn't going to

mooch or pretend to be nicer to her to get the cool things Suzume got, but rather she would appreciate the value of her friend much more and actually stop being

perverted about Suzume and Morishige's relationship. She wouldn't stop being Seiko Shinohara altogether, however for Suzumoto she would be more considerate.

When Mayu got up the next morning she was all by herself in Naomi's room. She could hear the sound of chatter and the smell of fresh fruit and the sound of bacon

sizzling coming from downstairs. "Must've overslept. Man does that sure smell good! I gotta get some bacon before it's all gone!" Mayu jumped up in excitement but

had to quickly sit down due to feeling really dizzy. "Silly me. I got up too fast. I should be more careful. After all, I did get sick last night." While she was slowly getting

up, Mayu had to go vomit. Naomi was getting worried since Mayu should be up by now and went to go check on her. Suzumoto's purple starry blanket and Hello Kitty

plushie lay askew over the carpeted floor. "Suzume, are you alright? We're eating kiwis and strawberries and coconut meat and bacon." Naomi turned her attention

towards her bathroom as she soon heard Mayu quietly whimpering. When Naomi walked in, Mayu was sitting next to the toilet and crying. "Mayu, what happened? Did

someone hurt you?" Upon inspecting her friend, Nakashima found no signs of bodily injury. "Well I'm glad to see you're not physically injured, but...did someone say

something about you?" Mayu sniffled and coughed. "I got sick again." Naomi sat down next to her friend to comfort her. "Poor thing. Do you want to sleep in my bed

until you want me to drive you home or are you up for breakfast?" Naomi whispered soothingly while rubbing Mayu's back. "I want bacon and coconut. I want to eat

and then go to bed. Is that ok?" Mayu timidly questioned. Naomi let Mayu do what she willed and brought the girl downstairs. "Hey Suzume! You're just in time for

Ayumi Shinozaki's world famous bacon and fruit dish. The food of the meal obviously provided by Naomi herself and Seiko helped out too. So eat up. You'll love it."

Ayumi's kindness really brought out Mayu's jovial nature and the girl who was sick last night wasn't there anymore but rather the giggly and excitable Mayu they all

came to know and love. Mayu ate her food very slowly; she wanted to not eat too fast and risk getting herself sick again and Mayu liked eating slow because she

would feel more relaxed and the food always tasted better that way. "We're all really glad to see your back to your old self." Seiko chimed while hovering around Mayu

who was finishing up her bacon and going for the coconut meat layers. Mayu felt cured by the time the afternoon came after she had rested and was ready to go home

to her loving parents.

* * *

*6 months later*

Mayu was sick for the longest time, but her will to persist helped her to overcome. Besides, it was very likely the stomach bug that likes to spread itself around school

during this time of year that was causing her vomiting in the morning. The whole ordeal lasted for 8 weeks. Nothing else had happened to her and within 6 months of

her first episode of illness, Mayu was back to normal and continued her life with her boyfriend Sakutaro Morishige. Every morning before the first bell rang, Mayu would

run up to him and practically smother him to death with kisses. Morishige would go along with her eagerness and overflowing energy and happiness because he loved

that about her and would do anything to keep her this way. Despite Naomi's concerns for her those couple of months ago, her fears were put aside as Mayu remained

the same and Seiko was able to breathe easy knowing her innocent friend wasn't pregnant. Seiko wasn't even sure how Mayu would cope or how the kids at school

would treat her. She didn't want the poor girl to be called a slut nor did she want her relationship with Morishige to end; they seemed so happy together. One Monday,

Mayu began to feel funny. Her stomach was aching on and off a lot and she almost threw up twice in the morning. Mayu tried to hide her anguish from her beau and

her friends. Satoshi had just walked into homeroom when he saw the teen girl writhing in her desk. "Suzume, are you alright? Did you eat something that didn't agree

with you?" "I'm fine. It's just that I'm getting these nasty aches and cramps all over my tummy. I want to wait this out before I do anything." Mayu replied to the

concerned chick magnet who eyed the floor while in thought. Seiko was watching their conversation from across the room while writing in her diary about what she

plans to do with Naomi today. Her mind found it difficult to concentrate on her friend's pain and her daily plans and coming up with an exact day when she'll finally tell

Naomi what she really thinks of her. Naomi knew Seiko liked her, but she thought it was Seiko being silly and devilish. Naomi wasn't aware her best friend that she

confides her love of Satoshi Mochida to was full out genuinely in love with her. Seiko knew she wasn't into other girls and she would keep a smile whenever Naomi

would go on about how sweet and selfless her dream boat was. Internally, Seiko conflicted with herself. One part of her was angry at Naomi for not noticing her

feelings while the other part was content with Naomi's choice in love interests. Ayumi liked Satoshi as well. In fact, a lot of the girls and even a few of the guys thought

Satoshi was the cutest guy ever and Seiko chuckled silently at the competition Naomi has to deal with on a daily basis. Meanwhile, Satoshi was trying to comfort Mayu

about her deadening fears and pain. "Thanks Satoshi. You're a really nice guy. I wish more guys were like you and Shig." Mayu complimented to the friendly face she

was conversing with. Satoshi appreciated the compliment and went to sit down at his desk. Mayu tried her best to fight the nausea all day and by the end of the day

she was feeling like a million bucks. She immediately went up to her room and checked her Facebook. No new messages but Morishige did poke her. She giggled as

she felt him touch her arm in real life and she noticed he was already online. She started the conversation_. __Shig, bro! What are you doing? _Mayu wasn't sure of how to

start this whole thing. She needed to ask him the question that's been on her mind for awhile. _Shig, if something happened and it turned out I was pregnant would you _

_hate me? _Those words hit Morishige like a train. "What? Did she just find out? Did she know but didn't tell me this whole time? I need to know." he thought to himself in

panic. _Are you pregnant right now? _"Way to be subtle, Sakutaro. Real fucking smooth." Mayu was worried now. She knew she wasn't having a baby, but she had to

know if Shig wouldn't love her anymore or leave her if such a thing were to happen. _Of course not! I've just had a lot of things on my mind lately and this was something _

_that popped into my head. _Morishige calmed his nerves at this truth. _Thank goodness. I thought something bad had happened. _Although she felt a tad bit happy at his

reply, Mayu was still concerned why he avoided her question. _Shig, please answer me. If I happened to be pregnant would you hate me or leave me? _"How could I be so

blind? Poor girl must be scared out of her wits." _Why would you think that? Of course I'd never do such a thing. You're Mayu through and through and no matter what _

_happens I'll always love you as a friend, as a girlfriend, and as a human being. If anyone tries to get you to think negative about me, then they're lying. _Mayu had never felt

so relieved at text before today. _Thanks, Shig! I can rest easy tonight knowing that. _Morishige couldn't help but let out a proud smile at his victory. The couple continued

to talk for a few minutes before Mayu remembered she had history homework to do. "So...World War I ended in 1918 and started in 1914. Just gotta remember those

dates since everything else isn't a problem." Mayu talked to herself while taking down study notes. She closed her book and looked at Herbert, her teddy bear. He was

wearing a sparkly pink tie today. She cradled Herbert in her arms and rocked him gently while singing a lullaby. Mayu was caught off guard by this. "When did I start

acting like this?" Was she starting to gain some maternal instincts? "You would be a cute baby Herbert." she smiled. The thought of becoming a mother both excited

and frightened Mayu. She didn't want to have babies while she was still in school. She wanted to wait until she and Shig got married before she could think about

having a family. But if she did become pregnant she would keep the baby and be responsible; she wretched at the thought of having an abortion. She didn't want an

innocent baby to suffer for something she did. Mayu had been keeping her thoughts and fears away from mom and dad because she knew how angry they'd be and

how everyone would look at them because of her. Her mind continued with this pattern the next day in school and when she got home. "Should I keep secrets from

mommy and daddy? I don't want them to hate me, but I can't keep them in the dark about my feelings. Maybe I should..." she trailed. Mayu craned her neck at the

sound of someone knocking at her door. She jumped down the stairs and greeted her beau. "Shig, bro! What are you doing here?" His eyes drew down to the ground

while his girlfriend brought him inside. "I was thinking about what you said the other day and I want to recap with you about this whole thing." he admitted. Mayu sat

him down on her soft couch in the living room and heard him out. "Mayu, I love you...so damn much. I would die for you. I would do whatever would make you happy

and safe. If we do become parents or you become pregnant, I'll be there with you more than ever. I know it sounds really cliche'd and all but I want your life to be

happy and fulfilled." Shig's eyes kept themselves shied away from Mayu's direct gaze. Suzume had grown internally ecstatic and gently kissed Shig unexpectedly. He

managed to take her sudden oral invasion and kissed her back with as much love and care. He had allowed Mayu to lie on top of him while they continued to kiss each

other harder. Mayu flipped a piece of his luscious navy hair away from his eyes and stared into them for a little bit. Morishige had freed his hands and brought them

behind her in order to take off her blouse. Mayu smiled and allowed for him to do such a thing to her. Was this moment happening again? It's been a while but neither

had planned for this to happen; it was so sudden, so impulsive and yet so...right. "Please, Shig. Make love to me again. I'm begging you." she cried gently into his

ear. "I'm not sure...What about all the stuff we were talking about before?" Mayu frowned at his words. "I'm sorry Shig. I don't know what got into me. I'm not like

this. I'm acting like a..." "Don't you dare say that about yourself. You were in the moment and thought you were doing the right thing. If I had something for

protection, then I'd consider but I just want to wait until I get that stuff." Mayu hugged him fiercely and thanked him for stopping her from making a mistake. "Aahhh...

O...oww..." Mayu whimpered, clutching her stomach in sudden pain. "Mayu! What's wrong? Did I accidentally hit you? Here, let me give you your blouse back." Shig

was very concerned for her. "I'm fff...ine...I justttt...need to lie down." Mayu was barely able to speak coherently and she soon collapsed onto the floor. Morishige

was pacing around figuring out what he should do, but when he saw an unconscious Mayu vomiting up some blood he got an ambulance for her. The ride in the

ambulance felt long and was hard to deal with. Mr. and Mrs. Suzumoto had found out because Shig had called them right before he got in the ambulance with Mayu

and the paramedics and they were already waiting the arrival of their daughter in the emergency room. Suzume was immediately rushed into an operating room before

her parents could ask how she was or what was going on. A short and slightly husky man with amber hair and eyes to match approached Morishige and the

Suzumotos. "What's wrong with my daughter! What happened to her!" Ken'ichi demanded the ER doctor. "We are operating to prevent any further hemorrhaging.

We're doing all we can to ensure your daughter's well being. I will update you if anything happens." the doctor told them, in an unusual sense of empathy. Hours

passed. Yukie kept crying into her husband who vainly reassured her that Mayu was fine. Sakutaro was so beyond frightened. "Did I hurt her? Did Mayu get sick

because of me? What if she's..." he gulped silently, "Pregnant? That can't be it. We would've known by now." After what felt like eons, the doctor who had greeted

the family upon their arrival updated them on Mayu's condition. "Is Mayu ok?" her father gently cried. "Mayu will be just fine. Would you like to see her now?" Shig and

the Suzumotos followed the doctor and came upon Mayu's room in the ICU. "What happened?" her parents asked. "Mayu had an emergency c-section done. She gave

birth to a stillborn baby girl. We aren't sure why the child was stillborn but we will be preforming an autopsy in a few hours. We'll ask Mayu if she wants to see the

baby since many woman want to see their child even when they know it's dead." the doctor replied. "Pregnant?! My daughter was not pregnant!" Ken'ichi screamed.

"Mr. Suzumoto, please be quiet. Mayu's trying to rest." he paused and resumed, "Mayu may have not shown any signs of pregnancy but I assure you she was indeed

pregnant. We'll be bringing in the baby so Mayu can see her and so she knows what had happened. We cannot keep any of our patients in the dark about something

that involves them." Mr. Suzumuoto glued his blazen eyes at the boy standing across the room. "YOU FUCKING PIECE OF SHIT! YOU DID THIS TO HER!" Ken'ichi

rampaged at Morishige and attempted to assault him. "Honey, calm down." Yukie protested while standing in Shig's way to protect him. "GET OUT OF MY WAY!" he

yelled at his wife. "NO! Morishige did nothing wrong! He didn't hurt Mayu!" A slight groan drew their attention as Mayu had just woken up and heard people fighting.

"Daddy? Where am I? What happened?" Mayu yawned while being frightened at the same time. He couldn't reply to her as a nurse and a doctor had brought in the

dead baby for Mayu to see. "Is she mine?" Mayu questioned while cradling her. "Yes but..." the nurse choked. "The birth was a stillbirth." "What is that?" Mayu had

heard the word being used before but couldn't fully grasp what it meant. The nurse tried hiding her tears and continued on. "It means the baby was born dead. There

was nothing we could do to save her even with all the interventions we tried." Mayu was so close to balling but she had to at least look strong. "Can I name her still?"

Mayu wondered. The medical staff nodded. "Her name is Kumi. Kumi Shig Suzumoto." Mayu let them take Kumi away for the autopsy and to embalm her thereafter.

Mayu thrashed violently in her bed and cried so very loudly. "I killed her! I killed our baby, Shig!" Mayu kept blaming herself for the death of her child. "Mayu, there's

nothing you could've done. Sometimes things happen for no reason." Shig hugged her passionately while trying to comfort his girlfriend and himself. "Mayu, don't cry.

You'll be a mom one day and the best mom ever might I add. When you get married you'll be happy and have a lot of babies." Mayu instinctively kissed him in a manner

similar to a few hours ago when they were at her house but this time it felt more longing and in need of reassurance. "Shig, bro I love you. I want to marry you and I

want to have your babies. There's no other guy out there for me, especially one who loves me the way you do." Mayu sighed and asked Shig, "Isn't our daughter

beautiful?" "Of course she is. She looked just like you. She's watching us from heaven right now and smiling at you because she knows you'll be a wonderful mother.

Kumi isn't mad at you Mayu. She's happy because you loved her even when she didn't get a chance to live." Ken'ichi was internally raging but kept his cool for his

daughter. At least for now. "Daddy, I'm sorry I didn't tell you." Mayu cried while hugging her dad. "It's ok baby. It's ok." "But dad, I have to tell you. Six months ago me

and Shig became boyfriend and girlfriend after we made love for the first time. I kinda pressured him and made it all happen. I even had mom not tell you because I

didn't want you to hate me. We haven't made love ever since because we were planning on waiting for the right time again because we didn't want to do this all the

time since we both vowed each other and felt we wouldn't love each other if we did it all the time." Mayu's words tugged at her father's heart strings. "Mayu...You're

my beautiful, precious baby girl. I will always love you. You are my daughter and your mother's daughter and we will never ever hate you." Everyone gathered in for a

giant hug, but no one in that moment knew that Ken'ichi was planning on getting revenge on his daughter's boyfriend. Nothing that would cause any bodily harm. O

no, but he knew what he had to do to "protect" her; he would have his family believe he had accepted a new job at a faraway place and have them move so that

Morishige could never see her again. He would make sure of this.


	9. The Trip Begins

**Chapter 9: The Trip Begins**

2 weeks later

* * *

"What did you say mom?" Mayu gasped in shock. "Your father, who obviously loves his work more than us, decided to get a new job in a new town and it's faraway."

Mayu was terrified of this. All her friends, all her dreams crushed with her mind simultaneously ripping her fears out right from under her. This can't be happening! The

cultural festival was tomorrow and Mayu had so many plans made with her friends. What would happen to Shig?! She knew how dependent on her Morishige could be

and she feared what would happen to him if she had left. Ken'ichi had calmly called Ms. Yui earlier to inform her that Mayu would no longer be attending her class. Ms.

Yui herself even cried a little when she found out. Mayu was definitely one of her best students and she had been blessed with the ability to liven everyone up around

her whenever they were sad or angry and had an overflowing abundance of intelligence and confidence as well. She couldn't bear to see that just leave. Mayu ran up

to her room and cried for as long as she could. She didn't care if she flooded the whole room with her tears. She didn't care if her father wanted to get a new job. She

just wanted to see her friends and never leave them. She felt like she was losing all control of her life. First her baby died and now this? Was there anything left for her

to retain any level of control over? "My life's ruined!" Mayu cried to herself. Mayu had never felt so depressed in her life. She thought her parents fighting was bad,

which it was, but this...this was just unbearable. "Should I even go on living? If I can't have my friends with me and if I can't still be with Shig then what would I have?"

Mayu held the ticket she still had that Shig had gotten her for Valentine's Day when they were 10. It was the same day she realized that she had fallen for him. Mayu

had never expected these thoughts...these feelings to enter her distressed mind and just rattle her like this. "Should I tell Shig I'm going away? I can't. He'll be

devastated but I can't just outright abandon him. Maybe I should get him to die with me like I had hoped would happen when were married and lived a long life

together." Suzume hugged that ticket like it was a sacred writing. She needed to stay strong and not think about taking her own life, but Mayu couldn't handle this

pressure or this grief. Mayu heard a gentle vibrating sound and assumed it to be her phone. She saw that Morishige had texted her asking if she was stoked for the

festival at school tomorrow. Her mind and flooded eyes were glued to the bright blue screen for awhile and she finally made her decision. Mayu hesitantly dialed his

number and told him everything. "Are you serious, Mayu! You can't leave! I won't let you leave! Just run away with me! Anything please! Just don't leave me here

alone. You're all I have in this world." "I have an idea, Shig. I was hoping you'd come join me so we could end it all together." Morishige gasped and covered his mouth

to avoid anyone hearing him screaming and crying. "This can't be real! I can't handle this!" he cried to himself while rocking back and forth. "Mayu...Don't do this! I

couldn't live with myself if you died. Please don't do this to us." "We have to if we want to be together forever. Isn't that what you want? Don't leave me!" Mayu

protested. "Just think about it Mayu. This isn't like you. Please don't have yourself do this. What about your mom and dad? Do you want them to live with that guilt that

they felt like they drove their daughter to suicide?" "Mayu? Are you alright? Please talk to me." her mother demanded, trying to hide back any trace of unconfidence in

her voice. "No! I won't leave! You can't make me!" Mayu objected. "Mayu! Let me in this instant!" "Mayu, please listen to her." her boyfriend begged. "I can't. I love..."

Yukie interrupted the conversation. "What's going on?" Mayu's mother cried out. "I can't leave him, mom! I love him and we promised to live together forever! If I can't

be with him then I don't want to live anymore! I'll die with him no matter what!" she screeched. "Mayu! I love you! Please talk to me!" Yukie commanded. Mayu ran up

to her mom and practically tackled her to the ground. "I don't want to leave, mommy! I can't leave Shig and my friends! I won't have anything left!" "You'll have me."

Mayu thought hard about those words. "Hang up the phone and stop stressing your boyfriend out. Let's have a quiet heart to heart." Morishige was completely alright

by letting Mayu go talk with her mom. "I don't want to do this!" "I know sweetie, but we have to. I don't like it either, but try not to be sad. You can say goodbye and

still have fun with your friends tomorrow." At Shig's house, he was banging his head against his walls and slipping back into psychosis. "I want to die! I want to die!

Die! Die! Die! Die! Dying die!" "Kill yourself! You're a failure as a boyfriend and as a person!" Naotaro mocked. The skull under the bed flapped his jaw to mock the

distressed boy. It didn't help he was already slightly declining before Mayu had called him and now his illness was full blown. This pressure was unlike anything he had

ever felt in his life. He literally threw himself down the stairs and he lay on the living room floor in shock and fear. "O my God! Sakutaro, what happened?" Shoichirio

bolted off the couch and rushed to the aid of his son. "Mayu...Mayu...Mayu..." the boy muttered. "What happened to you?" Morishige kept muttering her name over and

over again. "Mayu...Mayu...Leaving...Leave...Mayu's leaving in leaving..." The father hoisted Morishige in his arms and brought him back upstairs. "Did you take your

medication before school?" "Leaving...Leaving...Leaving..." was the boy's only response. "I guess not." Shoichirio looked in the medicine cabinet and found the pills he

was looking for. "Take them." he offered. The boy was lying down on his bed in a catatonic state and had to be force fed his medication. When he came out of his

psychosis, Morishige was interrogated by his father. "Why were you lying at the foot of the stairs?" The thoughts began attempting to regain control of his mind and

he mourned harder. "I don't want to talk about it." Shoichirio was very disappointed in him. "I'll only ask once more. Why were you lying at the foot of the stairs?"

Morishige really wasn't up for answering that. How could he tell dad he tried to take his own life? "Mayu's leaving." he replied. Shoichirio perked his head as his son

finally opened up. "Is that why you were lying on the floor?" "Yeah. I had a bad moment and I tried to kill myself." The man embraced the boy so hard, he thought he

couldn't breathe. "Don't you ever do that again! This world would be horrible without you, Sakutaro. You're my son and my life wouldn't be mine without you." Mr.

Morishige asserted Shig. "Mayu loves you. Would she be able to go on if something had happened to you?" Morishige shook his head as if he were protesting

something but his dad knew that's how he always shook his head. Mayu cried even more as she and her mother were talking about moving and leaving everyone

behind. "I know I shouldn't be obsessed like this over a boy, but Shig's my boyfriend and I want to marry him and give birth to his children and watch them grow up

happy and healthy." "There's plenty of other boys out there, Mayu. You can't waste your life thinking about one boy." Mayu was angered. She felt like her mother didn't

know her at all. She had said that she wanted Mayu and Morishige to be happy together, but now she seemed to dismiss it, as if Mayu would get over it. "NO! I don't

want anyone else! I want Shig and Shig only! I love him and he loves me! If he can't be with me, then nobody can!" she yelled. "Mayu! What's gotten into you? What

happened to my baby?" Yukie tearfully whined. Mayu saw that look her mom gave her and felt immense amounts of guilt. "I'm sorry, mom. I won't hurt you or dad. I'm

being really moody and selfish." Yukie saw that look her daughter gave and felt the same immensity of guilt Mayu had. "I'm glad you've come to terms with this. I know

it's hard, but I want you to have as much fun tomorrow as you can. Can you do that for me?" Mayu still felt distraught, but she did promise her mom to be positive. She

would have a tough time sleeping tonight, but she had to prevail no matter what life threw at her. The next morning, Mayu slowly got up despite her body being

drained of physical and emotional energy. She had to talk to Shig and make sure he had come to terms with her absence. "What the?" Shig saw his phone jitter all

over the place. He sighed with slight fear and anger as he saw her number from the other line. "Mayu, is that you?" Her chirpy laugh escaped her mouth when he

talked first. "Guess you found me out." He knew Mayu was always silly like this; he figured she must've come to terms with the move. "Are you stoked about the

cultural festival today?" he gently asked her. "Shig, bro, of course I am! I can't wait!" she smiled through the phone. "Are you still mad at your dad about leaving

Kisaragi?" Mayu felt her breath hitch at those words. "I wasn't mad at my dad. I was just annoyed with him, that's all. Are you all set with this thing?" "Yeah. I'm ready,

Mayu. Don't worry. I'll come to visit you and keep in contact and will still be your boyfriend if you want." Suzume would've held onto him if he was there with her.

"Thanks, Shig! I feel a little bit better now. I'll still be your girlfriend too! One day we'll get married. Promise?" "Promise." he reassured her. So many big plans and

Sakutaro somehow doubted his ability to keep his promise, but he kept his chin up. "Did you tell anyone else in class that you're leaving school?" "No. I wanted to tell

you because I was afraid of how devastated you'd be but I figured everyone else would be able to deal with it. I'm sorry." she frowned. Sakutaro smiled and let out a

sigh. "Don't be sorry. You didn't do anything wrong." He looked at his phone and saw he had to get ready for school, and so didn't Mayu. The ride to school felt longer

and more sullen than it ever had before. When Shig and Mayu met in the lobby, they both hugged each other tightly while smothering one another with affection. He

leaned Mayu against the wall, and forced his tongue into her mouth while rubbing up against her. He knew they were pretty much the only kids at school right at the

moment, so he didn't care if anyone saw him. Mayu arched into him and twirled one of his hairs with her finger. "How was that?" he questioned her. Mayu's face was

cherry rushed with excitement and pride, and she kissed him again. "I'm ready for whatever happens today, but that doesn't mean I'll leave you. You'll always be

mine." Mayu giggled. A few more kids came in as the sun rose a bit more and the bell rang soon thereafter which meant this day of reckoning has just begun. Kisaragi

had been brightly decorated for the cultural festival. So many pink, green, blue, and yellow ribbons were all over the place while displays for different cultures in the

area, a couple from the country, and even a few from all over the world complimented the touch. Mayu should've known; she helped Ayumi and Seiko put a good chunk

of the decorations up. She remembered how much fun they had in the halls while everyone else slowly dragged their feet to their classes during the day. She loved

how the three of them basically got the day off for helping set up the school for such a big day and how they would each tease each other and how mischievous

Seiko was being to the kids and even faculty that would walk by them. It was one of those days were you don't think about the future but have fun living in the

moment and Suzume loved every waking minute of it. As the school day had ended and the rest of the kids had left, the kids of class 2-9 stayed behind to have some

after school fun. The sky had opened up and Mayu was admiring the sounds of the rain, even if it was pouring out. Her mind was all over the place and Ayumi invited

her to join the story circle. When she sat down, Mayu saw Ms. Yui coming into the room as kind and as blissful as ever. "What's going on Ms. Yui? Did you come to listen

to some scary stories?" Mayu puzzled. "Maybe." she laughed. The woman had the same cheer and personality as Mayu and everyone swore Mayu and her were

sisters. While in the middle of the story, Shinozaki pulled out a paper figurine that must've been part of the story. "And so her spirit still haunts these grounds for all

eternity until some brave soul is able to purify her." Satoshi could've sworn he was shitting himself and Naomi and Yoshiki teased him heavily but he didn't take it in

stride. "Mayu, how's your last day been so far? I never had the chance today to ask you." Shishindo tried asking her student before all the kids looked more afraid

then when Ayumi told her super scary story. "Suzume, is it true? Are you really leaving?" they asked her. "Yeah...My dad..." Mayu wept roughly enough to get all the

girls going. "Don't cry, Suzume. I have something that will make us friends forever no matter where you are. I found it on the internet and now that you mentioned

moving I figured it would be the perfect time to preform the Sachiko Ever After Charm." "What's that?" "This paper doll I made is just for this. We all have to hold onto

a piece and after saying Sachiko's name once for everyone in the room and once more again for me, we all pull and get our own piece." Ayumi smirked. "Are you sure

this is a good idea?" Satoshi whimpered. "Calm your ass Mochida. Will you st..." Seiko protested before Satoshi's little sister Yuka came in. "Yuka! What are you doing

here?" he asked her. "I came to see my favorite big brother!" she ran up to him and tightened her grip around him. "I'm your only brother." he sighed. "I know, silly."

The kids and Yui excitedly grabbed onto Ayumi's creation and played along with this whole story thing. "Sachiko, we beg of you!" they shouted and their hands each

had piece of scrap from the doll. "See Mochida? That wasn't so scary now was it?" Seiko teased him again while sticking her tongue playfully out at him. Suddenly, a

tremor shook the building. "Big brother! I'm scared!" "It's ok Yuka. Hold onto me, are we clear?" The teen who looked like a young little girl fearfully hugged onto her

brother's ankles. A gaping black hole leading to God knows where manifested in the middle of the floor and swallowed the kids whole while the earthquake assited by

roughing the building and its foundation up and tossing the students in like they were toys. When Mayu started to fall in, Morishige grabbed her arm and struggled to

pull her to the surface with him but he too soon fell in. The couple instinctively held each others hands and squeezed their eyes shut in hopes this was all some bad

dream and not the beginning of a horrific experience.


	10. Welcome To Heavenly Host Elementary

**Chapter 10: Welcome to Heavenly Host Elementary**

* * *

"What the hell is this place?!" Yoshiki wailed. "I think we're in some old school. But..." Ms. Yui trailed. Ayumi, fleshed with impatience, looked at what appeared to be a

an old, tattered calender with faded lettering. "Let's see. Heavenly Host Elementary? 1953?! What the fuck is this shit?!" Ayumi whined and yelled. "Are you for real?"

Kishinuma questioned, following her lead and cross examining her discovery. "1953? Is someone that lazy where they can't even take down a calender from the 50's?"

He noticed a rickety old glass case containing what he rightfully guessed were textbooks. "Maybe the dates in these books can give us somewhat of an idea of what

time it is." Yoshiki flipped through the book and saw nothing but issues only recently discussed in a early 50's history book. Ayumi grew tired of waiting for him to find

anything and she took the book out of his hand and found nothing but the same things Yoshiki did. She went through the other books and turned white like a ghost.

All the books were from the 40's and 50's. "We really did go back in time." She dropped the book in trepidation and started to pace around the room. "Why is this

happening? Why is this happening?!" she yelled. "Calm the fuck down! We need to figure out were everyone else is first. Shouldn't finding our friends be top priority

anyways?" Yoshiki had never sounded so noble and Ayumi and Ms. Yui were very proud of him and followed his lead out the classroom. "I just hope poor Mayu is

alright. I don't think she needs any more stress right now." they all thought.

* * *

"Mnnn..." Mayu groaned. "Where am I? Where is everyone?" Her head darted across the entire room and she saw nothing but broken floorboards and askew desks.

Mayu wanted to find out where she was, but she was more concerned about the well being of her friends. She dusted off her uniform and walked out the classroom.

"Shig! Yoshiki! Satoshi! Seiko! Where are you guys?" The hallway was decrepit like the building it was housed in and Mayu diligently looked for any clues to help find

anyone. She heard the sound of a little girl crying and went to go investigate the source. The crying seemed to be coming from the girls bathroom and upon her

discovery, Suzume noticed the little girl wearing a slightly ragged red dress and long, flowing black hair covering her face. "Hey, are you alright? Do you need some

help?" The girl ran up to her and buried her face into Mayu's clothes. "What's wrong? Did someone hurt you?" She sniffled and said, "There's a scary man here. He

killed my friends and he's after me! I'm scared!" "Now, now. I'll help you out and protect you." Mayu felt sympathy for the girl and lead her out and up some stairs. "My

name's Mayu by the way. Mayu Suzumoto." "I'm Sachiko Shinozaki." "Sachiko? That's a pretty name. In fact, there's this charm me and my friends did called Sachiko

Ever After that brought us here, but...I don't know if my friends are ok. That's what I need your help with." "I'll help you save anybody that's lost here. Is that

allowed?" Mayu smiled at her innocent little face. "Yeah. I couldn't sleep at night knowing I could've saved someone and I just left." Mayu tightly held her hand and

tried to make light conversation with the girl to keep her from being scared. "I'm also looking for my boyfriend by the way. His name is Sakutaro but I like to call him

Shig. You'd like him. He's very nice." "Can I get a piggy back ride? They help me feel safe." Sachiko pleaded. Mayu couldn't refuse such a simple request and allowed

the girl to cling to her back. Mayu heard the sound of a baby crying in the distance. "Sachiko, we have to make a little pit stop. I hear a poor little baby crying. She must

be so scared being in this awful place." Mayu dropped Sachiko down and went to go look for the baby while still holding the little girl's hand. The sound seemed to be

coming from the infirmary and Mayu needed Sachiko's help to open the door because it felt very heavy. The baby wailed and cried louder as Mayu approached her.

"Hush...I won't hurt you." When Mayu tried cradling her and soothing her with lullabies, the child almost instantaneously rotted away bones and all. Mayu dropped

the dust that was a living person, fell on her back, and sobbed loudly. She rolled on the ground and cried for Kumi. "Who's Kumi, Ms. Suzumoto?" "She was my

daughter." "What happened to her?" "She was born dead." Sachiko looked sad and tried to make her feel better. "We need to go find your friends, Ms. Suzumoto."

"Just call me Mayu. My name is Mayu after all." Mayu replied, her eyes looking red from the tears. She let Sachiko continue her piggy back ride and, as selfish as it

sounded, had to go look for Morishige first. With him she could be relaxed and be more efficient in finding other victims trapped in this horrid school.

* * *

"Where is she? Mayu! Mayu! Where are you?" Morishige felt he had been looking for her for hours. He came here in a panic and tried to reason what had happened to

them. "How could we have been separated? We were holding each others hands while we fell in." There came the sound of a group of feet marching up the stairs to

where he was, and Morishige wanted to know who was coming but at the same time he wasn't absolutely sure he wanted to find out so he tried running away in the

other direction, but tripped on his own feet and fell against the floor. "Hey dude, you alright?" a masculine voice called out. Morishige groaned as the pain became

more apparent to him but he couldn't see who was checking on him because his glasses fell off his face when he fell. "What?" he called out to the voice. "Hey four

eyes! Are you fuckin' deaf or shit? Kizami asked if you were alright!" This voice too was masculine but unlike Kizami's, this one was more agitated and aggressive.

"Who's there? Is Mayu with you?" Shig was confused and slightly frightened. He didn't know if these voices talking to him were malevolent or benevolent or if they

were even real. "Who the fuck's Mayu? We're talking to and about you, dumbass! Now stand up for fuck's sake!" Morishige was more concerned with reaching his

glasses and tried moving his hand around to feel for them. He felt a strong guy shove him against the wall who then proceeded to kick Shig in the shins. "Kai! Jesus,

what's wrong with you?! He lost his glasses, stupid! He doesn't know what's going on so give him a break!" The voice yelling at the man was a female's voice. She

sounded strong and confident and was probably someone who had to tell this guy to calm down on a daily basis. Kai dropped Shig while Shig leaned against a wall.

Someone was coming even closer to him and offered him the glasses on the floor. "I would think these are yours. Here, take them." She was very soothing and gentle

but firm at the same time. She helped put them back on Morishige's face, and she smiled when she saw that he was more aware of his surroundings. "Thank you..."

"The name's Mitsuki Yamamoto and these are my friends. We're from Byakudan Senior High School, class 2-4 and we're stuck here too." Shig didn't care she

interrupted him, that was the least of his problems, and he allowed her to pick him up by the hand off the ground. "What's your name?" Mitsuki questioned. "Uhhhh...

Sakutaro Morishige. My classmates, girlfriend, and me did this charm thing and it brought us here." Shig's face was showing more of a look mixed with annoyance that

he grouped up with total strangers and the determined look that showed he was on a quest to find Mayu. "That's what happened to us." another female student

announced. "Yeah and it's all your fault! If you didn't insist we do that thing we wouldn't be here you dumb cunt!" Kai was very harsh with the girl. Her eyes teared up

and her face reddened and molded into guilt. "Kai, don't be mean. She didn't know and no one made you do the charm." The one confronting Kai was a meek looking

guy. He looked like the manifestation of a woman's desire for a sensitive man who was able to cry and be emotional. "Ohkawa, why don't you shove Ryosuke's cock up

your ass since you love it so much?" Kai laughed. "Kai, stop it! This is no time to be rude. We've got to look around for a way out or else we'll die here." Mitsuki

informed him. He looked at her like he was surprised but soon followed her lead. "So you said you have a girlfriend? What does she look like?" This was the same girl

who Kai accused of getting them trapped here. "Of course he doesn't Tohko..." "Kai if you keep it up we're leaving you here." Morishige continued with his commentary.

"Yes I do have a girlfriend. Her name is Mayu. She's got the most beautiful brown hair and the most precious green eyes. I love her more than anyone." "Ok, Morishige.

We'll help you find her and everyone else." Mitsuki promised. "Thanks." he grinned sheepishly. "She doesn't care about her! She only cares about herself!" Shig said to

himself. "Hey! There's a science room just down the hall. Maybe there's some supplies or something useful in there." Kai announced. Tohko looked at him in shock

because he was being genuinely serious and selfless. While they wandered down the hall, the building shook violently with the floorboards starting to remove

themselves from their foundations thus beginning a formation of a hole. Ohkawa got over the hole as it was being born. Ryosuke jumped high over the widening hole

with Kizami and a girl named Emi following his lead. Tohko tried to jump over the widened abyss but found herself clinging for dear life at the edge. She was about to

fall in before Kai grabbed her. "Tohko, take my hand and don't you fucking let go!" Her eyes widened as he grunted from pulling her body up out of harm's way. Mitsuki

and her friends Fukuroi and Kurosaki weren't able to cross over. Shig couldn't make it over to the other side either. "You alright Tohko? We almost lost you there." She

had never seen Shimada this concerned for anyone before, especially a girl. "Well, it looks like we're splitting up for the time being. You guys do what you need to do

and we'll do what we need to do. We meet back here in an hour or two. Got it?" Fukuroi commanded. The larger group left for down the hall while Sakutaro's group left

to go look downstairs. "O shit! I forgot my paper doll scrap! I'll be right back!" Yamamoto ran upstairs in a rush and picked up her paper scrap. "Whew. Thought I lost

you." she smiled. When she got up from her kneeled down position, Mitsuki noticed the hole covering the floor was gone and the hallway looked different. In fact, it

wasn't even the same hallway. It's like they were on the other side of the school or something. "Aghh!" The boys ran upstairs to see what was wrong. "What's

wrong Yamamoto?" Kensuke tried to console her but she was so frightened at the time she couldn't be helped. "Look! We're not even in the same side of the school

anymore!" Fukuroi looked out the window and despite the downpour he did notice the slight difference in scenery. They definitely were in another place. Morishige

became more frightened as he knew he must be farther away from Mayu and worried how she would do on her own. "I won't rest until I find her! I will find her!" He

kept this creed in his heart and worked with the other three students to find her, but he couldn'tve cared less about what happened to them as

horrible as that sounded.


	11. So Close, Yet So Far

**Chapter 11: So Close, Yet So Far**

* * *

"Sachiko? Am I a bad helper?" Mayu was feeling doubtful of her capabilities since she and her new friend had looked all over the school and found no sight of her

boyfriend and friends. She looked in every room, every corner, every cabinet and even checked a few bodies to make sure they weren't her friends. "No. It's such a big

place and it's easy to get lost. It's not your fault." Sachiko looked down at the ground and continued. "This place has different dimensions. Like where we are right

now, someone else, like your boyfriend, could be here in another dimension. They can hear cries and talking, but can't do anything about it unless they somehow go to

another dimension. It's really confusing." Mayu gasped and cried at the thought of this. "How can I help anyone out if I can't even see them? What do I do?" Mayu

heard the sound of a boy, maybe around her age, and went to go check it out with Sachiko. He was in a room of what appeared to be a 1st grader art classroom and

looking around for something. "H...hh...Hi." Mayu weekly choked out. "I..I..I...I...I'm Mayu and this is Sachiko. Are you lost here too?" He turned around and gave a

bright smile. Mayu noticed how he was just over a foot taller than her, but his towering height didn't make his genuine kindness any less apparent. "Yes I am lost. My

name is Yuuya Kizami. I'm from Byakuden Senior High School. I'm not exaggerating when I say that I was literally just with some classmates before I wandered off and

got lost." He looked a little sad and embarrassed while Mayu and Sachiko giggled at him. "Why should you feel embarrassed? You were curious. There's nothing wrong

with that." Mayu told him. She grabbed his hand which swallowed up hers and walked him outside. "Did you happen to see a boy named Sakutaro? Glasses. Navy

hair. Most adorable face in the world!" Mayu practically shouted out the last detail because she was starting to regain confidence in her ability to find him. "Yes I did.

He went with another group from my class and I haven't seen him since." Yuuya gently rubbed his arm the way someone would when they're in an awkward moment.

Mayu was a little angry and distraught at him but knew he didn't lose sight of Shig on purpose and invited him to tag along with their group. "So...Mayu is it? Where

do you go to school?" the man asked her. "I'm from Kisaragi Academy and so is my boyfriend Sakutaro." "Oh ho. You're taken? Awww...rats! You're so cute too!"

Kizami smiled down at her. Mayu felt her face warm up despite the cold air that surrounded her. Shig was the only guy who ever felt that way about her until now and

she felt bad because she felt she led him on. "I'm sorry I didn't tell you before." "Don't worry. I'm sure you make him very happy. You don't meet many girls like you

two. So kind and selfless. And talk about humble!" "Mayu! Mayu! Where are you?!" The voice crying out for her was familiar and very close by. "Shig, bro? Hold on, I'll

be right there! Stay where you are!" Mayu commanded him. Sachiko and Kizami had to run after her because she ran so fast. She got caught in a stairwell where

she and Morishige kept wondering where each other was. "Shig! Where are you?" Mayu cried out. "I'm right here! You sound so close!" he yelled. "I can't see you!

Where are you?!" "I'm on the first floor stairwell!" "I'm there too!" Mayu cried with massive tears on her face. "What are you doing, Morishige? Who are you talking

to?" Kensuke questioned. "Get away from me! Get away from me!" Morishige screeched. "Whoah! Hold on dude. What's the matter?" "Get your filthy hands off of me!

Stop touching me!" "Shig, are you ok? What's going on? Answer me!" The sound of footsteps drifted away as they escorted Shig back down to the first floor.

* * *

"What the hell is wrong with you?!" Mitsuki scolded him. "I was with Mayu and you took me away from her!" Sakutaro was throwing a violent temper tantrum, fighting

off Fukuroi and Kurosaki who tried to calm him. "I want Mayu! I want Mayu! Give her back! Give her back! Back! Back! Back! Back! I want Mayu back to me!" Mitsuki

roughly smacked him across the face. "Stop it!" Yamamoto was angered and frightened of the boy's psychotic rambling and she didn't want someone who has severe

mental problems anywhere near her. "Why did you hit him? He's clearly very distressed and scared. Get off his back!" Fukuroi felt an anger surge though him which left

a bitter taste in his mouth. "Guys! This is no time for fighting! Let Morishige explain himself." "I found Mayu and said, 'I'm by you!' and she could not see me and I'm

trapped with thee. Let us be. Let us be. Let us be." His green eyes seemed like he was under a trance or some other powerful force and he frightened himself when

he caught on to what he's been doing. "I'm sorry. I must've forgotten to take my medication. I get like this when I forget. When I forget...when I forget...when I

forget." His voice left an eerie echo that sent chills down everyone's spines. "What kind of medication?" Masato knelt next to him while Morishige sat motionless

against a wall. "Anti-psychotics and antidepressants." Shig only followed the three standing students with his eyes, not once blinking or decreasing his stare. "You'll be

safe with us, Morishige. Don't you worry a thing. We'll help you find your classmates." Fukuroi promised. The group of four walked to the second half of the school

where they came into an old locker room where rusty, decayed toppled lockers dwelt. "It smells like humidity in here." Yamamoto whined. "What do you mean?"

Kensuke had somewhat of an idea what she meant but wanted her to be more explanatory. "You know when it's really hot outside and everything feels sticky? It

feels like that kind of day and it's nasty." "Mitsuki's right. The air is really thick here so let's cool off outside and come back in and take the left and see if we can find

anything." Masato wanted to gain control of at least one thing in this place and the outside was made cool by the rain. "Great idea, Fukuroi. I feel so much better!" It

was the first time here she felt calm. *thud* *splat* "What was that?" Her voice became shaky and aggravated. Masato gently grabbed her hand and made Sakutaro

and Kurosaki check out what the noise was and where it came from. Mitsuki's face turned beat red as he slowly approached the two boys ahead of them. "He's holding

my hand? This is..." *thud* *splat* "Again?" Mistuki cried. "And just when I was thinking about him too." she whispered to herself. *thud* *splat* "What's going

on?" Fukuroi demanded. "This guy keeps jumping from the roof or something. It's like he's stuck in an endless loop." Kensuke commentated. Mitsuki was so frightened

and used Fukuroi as a becon of hope and safety. She wailed into his sleeves and he made her feel as comfortable as he could. "Let's go back inside. I can't watch

anymore of this." Morishige pleaded with them. The sight and sounds of the man jumping to his death made Shig shake in his skin. He remembered the day when he

attempted suicide and how Satoshi saved him. _Get away from there! Don't you know what'll happen if you jump? I'll be at peace! What about Mayu? _"Sakutaro, are you

coming or what?" Kurosaki waved his hand to him. "Yeah, sure." Shig sounded grumpy and Kurosaki took note of that. "Thank God we're out of that filthy locker room."

Mitsuki felt great relief at being able to leave that room. The ground shook hard and the teens all fell over on themselves. "Was that another earthquake?" she

whimpered. "Must've been. C'mon, we've got a whole other half of the school to explore." Shig was starting to become more vocal now and became even more eager

to find Mayu. The school shook again and when the floorboards were tearing away from each other, Mitsuki pushed Kurosaki across and was about to jump over

herself, but the hole was too large and poor Kensuke Kurosaki was stuck by himself. Mitsuki still had Masato Fukuroi and Sakutaro Morishige to keep her company,

although she sorta wished Morishige would just leave her alone.


	12. The Not So Briefest of Interludes

**Chapter 12: The Not So Briefest of Interludes**

Yes, this is part of the story, but it's one of those interlude chapters where Shig and Mayu's parents are panicking and wondering where their children are. Don't worry,

it gets super good in the next chapter. Enjoy guys! *And yes this part is important.*

* * *

"Sakutaro Morishige, answer your phone this instant!" Kumiko and her husband had been on edge for the last few hours. Their son hadn't come home after the

school's cultural festival. Mayu had also gone missing. "Damn it! He's not answering!" Shig's mom threw the house phone across the living room and fell to her knees.

Shoichirio came to her aid. "It's alright, honey. Sakutaro's fine. He'll be back before we know it." "HOW DO YOU KNOW IF EVERYTHING WILL BE FINE?! What if he's hurt?

What if he ran away with Mayu? What if he killed himself?" she screamed. He held the sobbing mother tightly and let her cry in his shoulder. "Ssshhh...Everything will

be fine. He'll come back safe and sound just like he always has." Mr. Morishige knew he had to come up with something different to console her. "Remember when we

found out you were pregnant?" Kumiko sniffled and joined his conversation. "I do. We had tried for three years and nothing but failure and then I took that pregnancy

test after I missed my period and it came back positive. I nearly broke the windows, I screamed so loud." "And you were crying and calling me and your parents." The

couple had been laughing at these beautiful memories they had of him, but Mayu's parents were not in the same boat. "I bet that fucker ran off with her so he could

sleep with her! Piece of shit!" Ken'ichi yelled. "I wouldn't blame Mayu for running away. You made her leave her friends! You made her angry and sad! She even

considered committing suicide with her boyfriend because you forced her to leave everyone she loves!" Yukie had been fed up with her husband's gross accusations

that Morishige was some kind of lowlife. "Shut up! You're lying!" He ran up to her and slapped her face in an impulsive and sudden movement. Yukie felt the reddened

mark on her face. It felt warm from his hand and her shock but it also stung like a bee going after you when you try to mess with it. "No! No! Yukie, I'm sorry! I didn't

mean it! Really! Please don't cry! Please!" Ken'ichi cried with his face into the carpeted floor. "Did she really say that stuff to you?" "Yes she did. I had to talk her out of

it yesterday while she was on the phone with Morishige." Yukie was still angry her husband had hit her, but she knew he was truly remorseful for his actions and he

had never struck anyone before.

* * *

*A wild flashback appeared!*

"Congratulations! It's a boy!" the doctor announced as he entered the proud mother's room. The baby was wrapped up in sky blue blankets with a little hat to match.

He had been sleeping soundly after the birth and Kumiko insisted that she only know his gender until she could hold him for as long as she wanted. The boy was

placed in her loving arms and the new parents looked in amazement of this child. "He's perfect. He looks just like you." she smiled looking up at Shoichirio. "He's so

quiet. He must be really happy, having some nice dreams." The baby boy yawned and rubbed his fingers all over his face while wiggling a little bit and then woke up.

He could see something in front of him, smiling. What's this? He stretched his arms out at the figure and he got quite a surprise as something brought him closer to the

face. Much better. "Hi there! You're so cute! Yes you are!" his mother said to him. He furrowed his tiny eyebrows in confusion. "I'm your mommy and this is your

daddy!" Dad held the brand new baby in his arms and tickled his cheek. The little bundle of joy latched onto his father's finger and tried to snack on it. "Someone must

be hungry." he chuckled. "Have you decided on a name?" the doctor wondered. "Sakutaro. I love that name. It's sweet and gentle but sturdy and masculine at the

same time." Kumiko insisted. "Dahhh!" Sakutaro waved his small arms in approval. "Alright then. Please allow us to take him to the nursery." Kumiko felt hesitant to

hand her baby over because she wanted to spend every minute with him but she knew Sakutaro had to be kept there for about a week as with herself in the

maternity ward.

* * *

Almost two months before, down the hall another woman also just gave birth but this baby was a girl. Much like the Morishiges, the Suzumotos were new parents.

Unlike them, however, they were originally expecting a boy to be born along with their daughter, but the boy died in the womb. Yukie and her husband felt sullen

about the lost child, even after their daughter was born, but they knew they had to move on as much as possible in order to properly care for her. "Mayu's the perfect

name for her! Wouldn't you agree dear?" Ken'ichi looked at his beautiful little girl. He could tell she was going to make a lot of people happy and that she was going to

be a very caring and gentle girl. His wife was right; Mayu is the perfect name. "You and her are the most beautiful things I've seen. I'm so proud of you, Yukie." Yukie

held little Mayu in one arm and leaned in to hug and kiss Ken'ichi. "I love you. You are the best father in the world and I'm so lucky to be married to him." "I'm blessed

with the most beautiful girls in the world and they are the best things to happen to me." He glided his fingers through his wife's hair and smiled at Mayu. "It's safe to

say this is the best day of my life." he told both of them.

* * *

"Thank you honey. I feel a little bit better now, but...I just hope he's ok. If something were to happen to him, I don't know what I would do." Kumiko sniffled and dried

her eyes. Naturally as a mother, she was very worried about her child, but she had to be confident enough to know her son was fine and that she would see him grow

up successful and happy. Mayu's parents tried to have the same outlook for their daughter. Ken'ichi felt intense guilt at his little revenge plan against Shig. "Honey..."

His voice was shaky and slightly raspy. "What is it?" "I'm not taking a new job. I just said that because I was so enraged when Mayu was at the hospital a little while

ago. I realize I royally fucked up and that I had no intention of hurting my baby. I don't deserve to be her father." Ken'ichi didn't care if his wife gave him the lecture of

a lifetime. He didn't care if his wife resented him for unintentionally causing his family so much emotional pain. All he cared about right then and there was Mayu coming

home like she's suppose to. Yukie couldn't stay angry at him. She was naturally a very forgiving person, much like Mayu was and there was enough drama going on

that creating anymore of it would cause her to fall apart. "Whatever happens, they WILL come back no matter what." both families assured one another as the

glimmer of hope shone in them like the starry sky.


	13. I Got You!

**Chapter 13: I Got You!**

* * *

"Where is he? Where is Morishige?" Mitsuki demanded. The boy had left to go exploring and hadn't come back. "He's gone, alright?! We have to go find everyone else

now. We'll look for him later." Fukuroi assured her. "I don't trust him! He's creepy and so suspicious." she admitted. Fukuroi wasn't happy with how she was treating

the guy. "That may be so, but he still needs our help to get out and I won't let anyone die because of a mistake on my part." Meanwhile, Morishige came upon a

personal treasure. It was the body of Seiko Shinohara. She had apparently hung herself in a stall. "Whhh...what...What a sight! It's...indescribable! It's...dare I

say...breathtaking! I don't want to forget!" He shakily took out his phone and snapped himself a picture. "Never forget...Never...Never...Never forget! It's just so...

I don't know how to put it! Words can't do it justice! She was so annoying. So annoying...so annoying...She was moving, breathing, talking, thinking all but a few

hours ago! Now here she is! Dead! Dead! Dead!" He was sitting in front of the corpse and rocking back and forth in an upright fetal position. After the initial craze died

down, Shig dusted off his uniform and continued his search for Suzume. "That was fun and now I don't have to worry about that Yamamoto bitch! Always judging,

always watching. She knows nothing about Mayu! I heard her! She's lost and I need to help her!"

* * *

"Why are we going to the incinerator, Sachiko? Is there something there?" Mayu questioned her companion that was leading her and Kizami. Mayu stumbled upon a

distressed newspaper article at the incinerator entrance and read it aloud. "After a series of tragic events and low student enrollment, Heavenly Host Elementary has

finally closed its doors. The decision comes after the 1972 murders of three children in the school's basement by Yoshikzau Yanagihori, a teacher at the school and son

of principal Takamine Yanagihori. The perpetrator was admitted to a highly secured psychiatric institution and somehow managed to escape after which he returned to

the scene of the crime and took his own life by hanging. The only survivor was one Sachiko Shinozaki. The rest ends here." Mayu looked at the saddened girl with

intense amounts of concern. "Are you dead, Sachiko? It's ok. We'll still help you." Sachiko felt very thankful and had Mayu and Kizami go into the incinerator to look for

clues. * cough* "It's so sooty in here. I can barely breathe. How you holding up, Kizami?" "I'm fine, Mayu. I think we should go back. This thing is huge and we haven't

found a thing." Mayu followed him out but when they got out, Sachiko was gone. "She can't be here by herself! We have to find her, Kizami! Kizami?" He was right by

her side, but he too disappeared. She read another newspaper clipping as she walked out the incinerator room. "Former principal of the now defunct Heavenly Host

Elementary, Takamine Yanagihori, committed suicide today. This comes one day after the school he was in charge of closed down for good due to the combination of

recent and past tragedies along with poor enrollment. Witnesses say the principal became paranoid and psychotic in the last few years of his life, and would often

complain about an unnamed child telling everyone he had committed a horrific crime and covered it up. The demolition crew that was assigned to commence the tear

down saw Yanagihori jump to his death and immediately called police and emergency personnel who declared him dead at the scene. He is survived by his wife and a

few somewhat close relatives." "This place is insane! Why did it all happen though? Maybe if I find Shig he'll have some ideas." Mayu felt so alone since her two new

friends left. Sachiko was only six, maybe five, and Kizami looked like he really needed her help too. She tried her luck on the third floor. "Murderer!" The voice was from

a boy that sounded like he was around Mayu's age. Out of the darkness of the hallway a boy came running from a corner and crashed into her. "I'm sorry! Are you

alright?" Mayu knew he had seen something bad. "Run! He'll kill us all! He killed Ryosuke! He's going to kill the both us if he catches us!" The boy was screaming and

crying in a panic attack trying to be logical and coherent. "What do mean? Who is he? Maybe I can help..." "You can't help me or him! Kizami-kun will kill all of us! You

have to run!" Mayu was sure she felt her heart skip a beat or two. "Kizami-kun? He was just with me! We can't be talking about the same Kizami! The one I saw was

kind and gentle!" Mayu knew this boy was very likely referring to the same guy she had been with a couple of minutes ago but her heart was in complete denial.

"Ohkawa...It's not nice to spread rumors. Come back here." The voice was that indeed of Kizami, the one Mayu knew about. "He's coming! Let's go!" Ohkawa

grabbed her hand and had her hide under the stairwell on the first floor. "Were are you going?" Mayu sobbed. "I have to go check on my classmates who don't know

about Kizami's intentions. Besides, I'll try my best to keep him distracted so he'll forget about you so you can run away. I couldn't let a nice cutie like you get killed."

Mayu hugged onto him tightly and cried. "Everything will be fine. Don't worry about me." He ran up to the second floor to see if he could find Fukuroi, Mitsuki, Kurosaki,

and Morishige and tell them what is going on. Mayu rocked and shivered behind the old rickety stairs and tried to hide for as long as she had to until she felt safe.

"AGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!" The scream was loud enough to shatter both glass and eardrums. Even though she was scared, Suzumoto wanted to make sure

Ohkawa was ok. She slowly crawled up the stairs and called out for him. "Ohkawa? Are you alright? If you're hurt I can help you run!" The journey up the stairs took a

more eerie turn as silence encompassed the space around her. "Ohkawa, I'm coming up the stairs! Don't you move a muscle!" Mayu leaned against a wall and peered

around the corner to make sure she could move forward. She looked at the floor and saw a blood trail. "Blood? Ohkawa! Are you ok? Are you bleeding? Where are

you?" She reluctantly followed the trail and stumbled upon Ohkawa's corpse; his headless corpse. Mayu gasped and cried in shock and fear and tried to keep herself

from screaming. "Mayu! There you are! I was worried about you." Yuuya walked out from in front of her while casually carrying the boy's head. Mayu slowly backed up

and tried to think of an escape plan. "What did you do to him?!" "Oh this? Nothing really. Just got myself a souvenir. Do you want it?" He tossed the head over to her

and Mayu screamed and dropped it. His face had the look of fear embedded into him. "You don't like it? Too bad. He tried to be so quiet when I tortured him a little bit

but in his weakness I saw his beautiful life light shine at it's peak! It was like a star glowing and sparkling brilliantly in the night sky!" "I won't let you get away with

this! You'll be left here all alone!" "Why does it matter who does the killing? We'll all die and you're no exception Mayu." He march walked to her in the most frightening

way imaginable. Mayu really wanted to run, but her mind was swallowed in a trench of fear and she was struggling to stay above it. "Mayu, come with me. We'll find

Morishige together." "NO! I won't let you find him!" She ran down the stairs and down to the corridor that joined the school halves. She collapsed to her knees and

tried to catch her breath. "Looks like I lost him. Ha...ha...God, my lungs hurt. Ha...I have to find Shig and let him know there's a killer in the school." Mayu felt a hand

touch her shoulder and it felt rough. "Shig? Boy am I glad you're safe. You're hand feels rough. Did you have to move around a lot of stuff?" Her smiling happy face

turned to a pale white horrified face when she saw Kizami standing over her. "Get away from me you creep!" "Now now. Name calling isn't very polite. You need to

mind your manners." His face rapidly changed from a normal, concerned look to an evil, sadistic look that wanted to shove more fear down Mayu's throat. She crawled

back further and ran into a locker room. "Got to hide!" She couldn't even decide before he came in after her. She rapidly did a double take at the two doors that she

could possibly go through. "Stop running. You need to relax and calm down." Kizami's voice was soothing and gentle and the knot is Mayu's stomach slowly untied

itself. He approached her without his knife and she impulsively hugged him. "I'm sorry, Kizami! I didn't mean to upset you!" She paused and continued. "That was kinda

funny now that I think about it. You were really convincing!" "You played a very good part too." He reached into his hind pocket and stabbed her through the shoulder.

"AGHHHHHHHHHHHKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKK! THAT HURTS! WHY WOULD YOU DO THAT?!" Mayu had never felt pain quite like this. Sure when she lost her virginity was

bad and then she thought she reached her pinnacle when she had the stillbirth but this was different. "Such a loud scream from such a quiet and shy girl! Do it again!"

He lifted up her arm and jammed the bloodied knife into her palm. She screamed and thrashed her head against the wall from the pain and Kizami stepped in by

making sure she was stuck against the wall. "Get off of me you jerk! This isn't fair!" Mayu kicked his feet and shins but he didn't even flinch. "What's not fair?" he

mocked her. Suzume tugged his arm and bit him rather hardly. "Was that supposed to hurt? You can't escape, Mayu! I will find you and kill you and your boyfriend!"

Mayu fled as far as her body would carry her and collapsed onto the stairs halfway to the second floor west hall. "Got to run! Survive...For Shig. For Ohkawa. C'mon,

Mayu get up! Your friends need you! Don't give up now!" She used her good hand to pick herself up and stumble up the stairs. "Mayu! You're bleeding rather badly. Let

me help you with that." He grabbed her left arm, the one he had stabbed, and forcefully dragged her up the stairs. She wailed in agony as the wound still burned in

her while he yanked on her arm which only made it worse. "Stop! Shig, were are you? Save me for christsake!" "Be quiet Mayu! You'll attract too much attention!"

Kizami yelled at her, stopping dragging her in order to stomp on her injured hand. Of course, she instinctively howled out her affliction. Kizami grabbed her head and

smashed it into the wall savagely and many a time as well. Mayu's skull oozed blood as her unconscious body was dragged around like a sack of bricks. "What room

should I use to hold onto you?" He looked thoroughly and saw a slightly open door and dragged her in. It was a science lab. This was too perfect of an opportunity for

him to pass up. He let go of her for a little bit to gather the necessary materials. He saw a couple tables that had the same kind of leather straps used on a violent

mental patient and had no qualms about using these little gems. He double checked the versatility of the leather and made sure they were as tight as could be without

completely cutting off circulation while assuring they were properly attached to the splintered table. Yuuya grinned as he saw her helpless body lying all bruised and

bloodied on the table. He made sure the room was locked up tight and calmly walked to the eastern hall of the second floor and heard a door closing. "Eek! Someone's

coming! Is it HIM? What do we do Fukuroi?" Mitsuki whined. "Ssshhh! Let's wait!" The two saw Kizami walk down to them with a very collected demeanor. "See,

Yamamoto? It's just Kizami. You worry too much." "Kizami! Are you alright? Are you still fit enough or do you need some help?" Her eyes darkened when she finally got

it through to her head that Kizami was coated in blood. "What happened to you? Are you bleeding?" "I'm fine. Slipped and fell on a few dead people. They're

everywhere!" "I know right?! Well, Fukuroi and I are glad you're alright, Kizami." Fukuroi had regained his sulked look and Kizami asked what was troubling him. "It's

Emi. She...Got her brains splattered all over the floor by that hammer man." Mistuki frowned at the remembrance of one of her best friend's death. "Yeah I saw her too.

What a tragedy!" He sighed and shifted his feet around on the floor until Fukuroi approached him. "Kizami, this may be asking too much, but could you help us find

Morishige and his girlfriend? Morishige wandered off and we still haven't found any trace of Mayu." Fukuroi frowned. "Sure...Right after I do this." He grabbed Fukuroi

by the throat and slammed him into the wall. He punched him in the eyes, shattering his glasses and causing the lens shards to puncture his eyeballs. "GAHHHHHH!

IT HURTS!" Masato tried kicking Kizami in the shins but he was completely powerless. "FUKUROI!" Mitsuki had been watching the whole thing play out and she

was too scared to help or run. "Run Mitsuki! Just run! Don't let him catch you!" She really didn't want to leave her friend to fend for himself but he insisted, no

demanded, that she run and save herself. "Don't you know she'll die anyways?" Kizami teased him. "No she won't! She won't let you get her!" Kizami's grip around his

throat increased to where Fukuroi couldn't breathe. "Doesn't it hurt to be choked? No matter. I will find ways to get you to pathetically cling to the smallest strands of

your life and then I'll see who you really are outside and..." He plunged the blade in his stomach. "INSIDE!" "FFFFFFUUUU...AGHHHHKKKK!" "You never fail to

disappoint! I love it!" He dragged Fukuroi to the nearest bathroom and proceeded to shank the knife into him farther. "STOP! PLEASE!" He didn't listen and he

started to carve into his body further like he was a Christmas turkey. He carefully and playfully examined Fukuroi's intestines and other organs and marveled at how

they were working. When Fukuroi bled to death, Kizami used his small intestine as a noose and hung Masato up in one of the decrepit stalls. "Who knows how many

are left? I can't wait to find out!" He didn't even bother cleaning himself up and left the bathroom to go pursuit Mitsuki to her death.

* * *

Morishige swore he was in heaven. Every crevice, every corner had a body or a skeleton in it. He took pictures of every single one so he couldn't forget. He was

ruminating about what each life was before they came to the school and what they were doing in their final moments. He was having so much fun, he almost forgot his

original goal. "These things...they're so distracting! I have to stop and find her or else I'll be stuck...in this atmospheric place! It's just so relieving. It makes me feel

better." He paused and shook his head. "No! I can't be doing this! It's not right! What am I doing? I..." he paused. "I have to find her. I have to stay sane for her.

But...What if I'm already insane right now? Am I actively psychotic? I scared Mochida's sister away even though I was just trying to help. Did I say something to scare

her?" He turned back to face Yamamoto's body lying on the floor. "So pretty!" He heard someone coming up the stairs and wanted to go check it out. He walked out

and bumped into Kizami again. "Morishige? Where have you been? I've been looking all over for you!" "Oh...You know. Around." He looked at the ground with that

awkward stare and noticed Kizami was grabbing onto his arm. "Hey! Let go!" he demanded the boy who was clearly physically superior to him. "What were you looking

at?" Kizami teased him. "Let go! I have to find Mayu! Someone might kill her!" Kizami smirked when he saw Shig's hidden delights and bragged about how he killed

some of them. "You? You killed people?! Where's Mayu! What did you do to her?!" "Nothing. I just put her someplace where she'll be safe. Don't you worry." "Where is

Mayu?!" He grabbed Shig by his collar and threw him against the wall. "Get up, Morishige! Don't you want to save her?" He struggled to maintain his balance and tried

swinging his fists at Yuuya but every time he kept grabbing onto Shig's fists. "How do you expect to save someone with that kind of strength?" He threw Sakutaro

against the wall and his head hit it and cracked too. He lay there unconscious and defenseless while Kizami stood over him. "I got you!"


	14. In Love and In Death Pt 1

**Chapter 14: In Love and In Death Pt. 1  
**

* * *

When Mayu woke up, she found herself right next to Shig, but she couldn't move over to check up on him. "Shig, are you alright? Can you hear me?" His faced grimaced

and he groaned loudly before he woke up in shock. "Mayu! Oh my God! Are you hurt? Do you need my help?" He tried to get off the table like he would when he wakes

up from bed, but his wrists, torso, and legs were restrained. It brought back the memories Morishige had when he was admitted through emergency psych.

* * *

*Where'd that flashback come from?!*

"I want to go home! I want to go home!" Sakutaro cried. Just about every part of his body was restrained to prevent him from injuring himself, and he felt like he was

stuck in a closed space, suffocating to death. He struggled valiantly against the leather that held him down and what little he could move was subdued by nurses and

medical assistants while a team of doctors were taking notes before they were to interview him. "Let me go! I have to save Mayu! She'll be killed! Let me save Mayu!"

he begged them. "Move the patient to the observation room down the ward before we get in contact with his family! Make sure there is nothing but him in the room!"

Shig saw the room he would be held in and refused to go in. "Let me go! Let me go!" Shig kicked and fought against the staff but he was outmatched and locked in the

room all alone. "Get me out! Get me out! They're going to kill Mayu!" He vigorously pounded on the door with every last bit of strength he could muster, but retreated

to the corner of the room when the doctors from before approached him. "Don't be afraid. We're here to help you."

* * *

"What's wrong, Shig? Why are you screaming?" "Let me go! I want to go home! I want to go home! They're going to kill Mayu!" "SHIG!" Mayu yelled louder than

before to get his attention. "What? Mayu? Are you alright?" "I'm a little beat up but I'm doing fine. How are you holding up?" "I've been better. Say, how'd you get

here and why are we restrained so tightly?" "I don't know what's going on. The last thing I can remember is this tall boy attacked me and knocked me into the wall

and that's when I must've blacked out." "Really? The same thing happened to me! Do you remember what he looked like?" "Yeah. He was really tall and he had

lavender purple hair and he acted so sweet and innocent until the last I saw him." "How is it that we dealt with the same person for both of our troubles? Was his

name, Kizami by any chance?" Mayu gulped loudly as it was all coming back to her. "Yes it was, but I don't know where he is. Is he the one who brought us here?"

"Don't worry so much, Mayu. We'll get out of this place. I promise." Morishige gave her a smile to try making her feel safe and calm, but what assurance she did gain

was demolished by a familiar voice. "You shouldn't promise things you aren't so sure of, Morishige. After all, you two will die here and feel the pain forever! But before

that, I'll get to see your true faces and learn everything I can about you! So..." he stopped and pushed his hands hardly down onto Morishige's stomach, "Shall we

begin? Just remember that when I start, neither of you can hold back, and you should do your very best." "Kizami! Let Mayu go you fucking asshole! She never did

anything to you! She doesn't deserve this!" Morishige screamed at him. "Now now, it's not nice to call names! Besides, you'll get plenty of attention too, but as a

gentleman I must let ladies go first." Kizami-kun turned his attention to Mayu and gently caressed her face. "Get your hands away from her! I swear I'll kill you when I

get out! How do you like that one?!" "Excuse me, Mayu. Your boyfriend is being rather rude and I can't focus with him talking." He took a small ice cube and a can of

iodized salt and prepped it next to Shig. "That's your torture? Ice cubes and salt?" Kizami easily tore open his sleeve and poured a generous amount of the salt and

then casually put the ice cube on top. At first all Shig felt was lots and lots of cold, but that feeling was replaced by a harsh burning sensation that radiated all the way

to his nerves. He fought against the torturous restraint, but he was powerless. Mayu cried as she was unable to help Shig who was thrashing and crying in pain. She

begged Yuuya to stop hurting him, but he was so intent on torturing him it didn't even matter. A massive hole of missing flesh and pain burned all over Shig's arm. He

panted from exhaustion but was still ready to put up a fight. "Wow! I didn't know you could be so loud! I love it! I will definitely get back to you!" "Don't you dare touch

her! Let her go! Let her go!" Morishige tried his hand at swaying side to side to break free and attack Kizami. Mayu hypoventilated from fear and tried to wriggle her

wrists from the leather bonds but Kizami firmly pressed down on her hands and smiled at her. "I can understand why you're so impatient, but don't worry. I'll make

sure everything goes smoothly for you." "Let Shig go, please! He has done no wrong to anybody!" "Really? He hasn't killed a person before? He hasn't threatened

anyone?" "He was just trying to defend me! He was going to be killed if he didn't help me or himself! He's a good person and he deserves none of this! Besides, who

are you to judge Shig? You brutally murdered Ohkawa! He never hurt you either!" "I know what I do but at least I don't deny my actions. He murders and you both

pretend nothing ever happened!" He yanked Mayu's shoes off and continued on. "I remember reading about the murder and the trial. It was simply fascinating!" he

paused and pulled off her socks and traced his knife around her knees and legs. "So delicate and warm. It'll be interesting to see how you beg. You'll probably be

better than him!" Mayu whimpered and cried as his face got closer to hers. He wiped off her tears and spoke soothingly to her. "I know in that little body is a person

begging to cry out and scream. Why don't you indulge me a bit, hmmm?" "Get your hands off of her you pig! If you hurt a hair on her head you will be sorry!" "How so?

What do you plan to do?" He freed her hands only to stack them together and jam his knife to keep them in place. "AGhhhhhhhhhHHHHah! Shig, get out of here!

You need to get Sachiko and save everyone! Please!" "I'm not going anywhere, let alone without you!" Shig couldn't even think about leaving her alone like this. He

must see her escape safely and then he could think about getting himself out. "You two are so wonderful! It's as if you're both one! Maybe I can get a dual reaction

out of you!" "Mayu! Mayu! Look at me! Don't look at him! Just look into my eyes and think of something else!" "I can't! I'm sooooo scared!" "Mayu, listen to me! Look

me in the eyes! He can't take you away from me no matter what he does to us because we are together in love and in death forever." He managed to slip a wrist out

the leather and reached out to grab Mayu's hand. "Mayu, take my hand." "My hands! They hurt! I can't move them!" "Let me help you with that." Kizami smirked before

he violently ripped the blade out. She wailed and cried and tried to stop from giving in to Kizami's wants, but all this emotional and physical torture made it near

impossible. "Morishige, why aren't you participating? Don't you want in on the action?" He walked to Shig and stared into his ravaging eyes. "Fuck you!" Sakutaro spat

into Kizami's face. "Alright then." He grabbed Shig's tongue and cut it out. "Ahhhhnnnnnnn!" Morishige could feel blood pouring down his throat and he felt his throat

constrict. "Shig! No! Kizami, what have you done?!" "He spat at me and I'm just making sure he never does it again." Kizami's attention was being focused on the

dying Morishige up until he could hear Kurosaki calling for him. "I have some important business to attend to. I won't be long." When he left, Mayu struggled with all

her might until her wrists were freed up so she could unbind herself. She hastily undid his bondage and had him lie down on the floor. "Shig, bro are you ok?" The

blood was pooling in his mouth and it was hard for him to communicate. "He did cut out your tongue! I have to find something to stop the bleeding!" Suzume looked

everywhere for gauze or anything that could absorb blood real good but nothing came to mind. She tried her socks as a last resort but it was too late. He was dead.

"Shig! No! No! No! It's not supposed to end like this! We were supposed to have babies and grow old together! You promised! I promised..." she sniffled and saw

Yuuya standing across the room. He had even more blood on him. "What did you do?!" "I took care of a little distraction." "You killed Shig! You killed him! I love him and

you took him away from me, you monster! I hate you!" "Whoah! Those are some strong words, Mayu! I'm really impressed. How about I let you take off with your

boyfriend and then I come get you and bring you back? Does that sound like fun to you?" He was getting closer and closer. "What do I do? I have to run, but I can't

leave Shig behind! I don't care if he slows me down. I will carry him with me till I'm not alive and that is a promise!" Mayu kept these thoughts within her while also

simultaneously running away from the remorseless and evil boy while carrying Morishige's body. "Hang on, Shig! I'll get us out of here!" She pulled and tugged him

along as she got to the staircase. "Ok, I'm doing good! Now I just have to find a way to carry him down the stairs." She cautiously walked down but it wasn't enough

as she fell down the flight of stairs and snapped her neck, killing her. When Kizami caught up to her, he saw her lying face down at the bottom of the stairs. "What a

fast one! Too bad I couldn't have used her more." Kizami laughed a little. He was planning on bringing them back to the science lab but he liked the idea of having

them splayed all over one another as if they were some fine art exhibit. It was sure to add a lot of mental pain to someone, somewhere in the school.

* * *

"Ayumi, are you feeling alright? Wanna take a little break before we move on?" Kishinuma asked the wary girl. "Sure...I guess...Maybe this next room will have a nice

place to sit down." Yoshiki had been doing his best to put up with her and himself. She had been possessed more times than he could count, saw a guy about his age

hanging in a stall by his own intestines, and he had to witness the death of Ms. Yui and there was nothing he could do. He really wanted to help her, he really did, but

she insisted that he and Shinozaki leave and the floor was caving in so fast he didn't have enough time to think. He thought he could be useful and save everyone, but

he felt useless and powerless against the school. Yet despite all this, Yoshiki remained strong for Ayumi because she needed all the confidence she could get and

because he loved her. Correction. He was IN love with her. She was the only one besides Satoshi and Mayu who were nice to him. Morishige wasn't mean to him either

really but Morishige was also more solitary and preferred Mayu's company over anybody else's and therefore came off as rather stand offish. Yoshiki had been wanting

to apologize to them both about his dumb bet he made with Seiko and how he had been rather inconsiderate of their feelings. He didn't know about their stillborn

baby. Fuck, nobody but Morishige, Mayu, and their parents knew. Had he known about Kumi, Yoshiki would've probably blown his head off or more likely try to avoid

Shig and Mayu in shame. But he had to focus on the here and now, and that involved him and Ayumi making their way to this classroom and looking for rest and some

help. The classroom had a pungent, horrific odor wafting from it. "Let's go, Yoshiki. It smells in there." Ayumi tried to block the smell with her blouse over her face but it

was hopeless. Yoshiki held the door open for her and closed it behind her. He had her lie down on the floor while he searched what he knew was a science lab.

"Hmmmm...Nothing here...What? Is that blood? And Mayu's shoes?" "Where they here?" Ayumi wondered. "I don't know but we need to get out of here and find

them!" He picked Ayumi up gently and walked down the hall to the stairwell. The stairs had the same odor as the science lab did and it got worse as they walked

down. Ayumi felt apprehensive about their discovery. The couple were lying down on the floor motionless and they didn't look like they were breathing. He checked

Morishige and saw his torn uniform and bloody face and that his tongue was gone. Ayumi carefully touched Mayu and gasped when she saw her cold, glossy, dead

eyes and finally noticed her twisted neck. "Oh my God! Suzume's dead!" "Morishige's dead too...Someone cut his tongue out." "Why them? What did they ever do to

anybody?" "Nothing, that's what." he paused and continued, "We have to survive. For them. Ayumi, we can't stay here. We need to find Satoshi, Naomi, Yuka, and

Seiko and get out."

* * *

**Sorry for the long, long update. I've been really busy, and tired, and tired again. This is a two parter for a reason because I needed to get a chapter out and I **

**felt it would appropriate for this type of situation. Did you expect that ending? Yes? No? Make up your damn mind! There's about three more chapters left before **

**the story ends. *sad face* Will there be a happy ending despite what we just saw? You'll find out in the next chapter!**


	15. In Love and In Death Pt 2

**Chapter 15: In Love and In Death Pt. 2  
**

clubbingwithpikachu, where the hell have you been? Well, I've been facing depression and writer's block which are bad enough on their own. I'm really sorry I've kept

everyone waiting so long but here's the newest chapter. I was going to make it longer, but then I decided to make In Love and In Death a trilogy of sorts. Don't worry,

your answers will certainly be answered in the next chapter which is the third to last chapter. Anyways, I hope this will at least satisfy you enough to want to read

more of the story if you haven't or read some of my other work. Leave a comment, and favorite/follow me or the story for updates and so it may be easier to get in

touch with me. Shout out to Kobayashi Aiko for helping me with ideas and motivating me to get writing.

* * *

Sachiko's little feet plopped around the stairs. She was being followed and guarded by the hammer man she told Mayu about. Yoshikazu followed her every command

and every motion. After all, his mind had collapsed to that of a young child during the last few years of his life. She payed note to Mayu and Morishige's corpses.

"Awww... It's too bad I couldn't get to them first. And after scaring her with that baby...This must be her boyfriend..." She touched his face and discovered he had bled

to death. "I see Kizami-kun did all the work for me then." she chuckled as she turned around to Yoshikazu, who was dragging Yuuya's disfigured corpse in one of his

bear paw sized hands. "Let's go, dipshit! We've got a lot more work to do!" *mumble* "Aghkk...yyyhhkkk..." Even though Yoshikazu had intense amounts of strength,

he feared her immensely. Her intentions were nothing but cruel and sadistic and her abilities were immense. When the two walked off, Yoshiki and Ayumi came out of

hiding. "That was close! I was sure we'd be goners!" Yoshiki whispered. Ayumi trembled and cried while she continued to eye Morishige's and Mayu's bodies. "Hey,

Ayumi. What's wrong?" "I just want to go home! I don't want to die like them!" "Well then...Let's get out of here and find everyone else." He grabbed her hand and

slowly and quietly led her down the stairs. He was determined now more than ever to keep her safe and sound. Ayumi tried to keep herself uplifted by remembering

the day she first met Mayu and Morishige.

* * *

Ayumi Shinozaki was very nervous about today. It was her first day at Kisaragi Academy and she didn't recognize anyone's face. She had just moved into town and is

usually a huge social butterfly, but whenever she was faced with anything that felt unpredictable, she felt withdrawn and apprehensive. She was just about to close

her locker when a cordial brunette girl approached her with her guy friend following behind her. "Hi, there! My name is Mayu and this is my best buddy Shig!"

"Yea...ummmmm...I'm Ayumi...Shinozaki and I'm new..." "Oh of course! You must be the new girl everyone's been talking about, especially Kishinuma!" "Kishinuma?"

"See that lone guy with the blonde hair? That's him." "Well...He's kinda cute..." "That's great because he likes you too! A lot! And he barely knows you and he already

wants to get close to you! That's so romantic!" Ayumi felt even more nervous now. "Don't worry! Shig and I'll help you around. Won't we?" "Why are you dragging me

into this?" "Because Ayumi's a nice girl and she just needs a little guidance, that's all." Shig couldn't resist Mayu when she got like that, so he followed along with her

plan. Mayu felt really excited showing Ayumi around because she loved having people become friends on their first day of school and helping others was her specialty.

She felt really happy for her when science class came around because she was excited about Ayumi getting partnered with her admirer. "Today we will be working with

dissection materials, so everyone will be partnered up." The teacher told her students. Shig and Mayu got together while Naomi and Seiko got together. "And...Ayumi

you'll be paired with Satoshi." Shinozaki felt a little disappointed when she couldn't be closer to Yoshiki but her partner made up for it. "Hi...Ayumi..." Her breath

skipped a few times and her eyes were glued to his face. This Satoshi guy was really cute! "Hhh...hhh...Hi, Satoshi. I'm not...too fond of... this..." "Don't worry. I'll

take care of the dissecting part and help you copy down the notes. Most girls don't like this and I can't say I blame them." She sighed with relief and carefully handed

over the tools to him. She's done these a few times before but it still grossed her out. She knew the animals were dead but a part of her felt it was degrading to them

since she would rather have them be buried then cut open and thrown away. But Satoshi being by made the assignment that much easier...

* * *

"Ayumi, this is no time to be daydreaming!" "Sorry..." "It's no problem...I shouldn't have yelled at you." Meanwhile, Satoshi, Naomi and Yuka were looking for some

clues near the janitor's closet when Naomi spotted a black and white plush kitten with a tiny note attached. "Happy Birthday, Sachiko! I can't believe you're six

already! I'm sure your father would be very proud of you. I got you a black and white kitty plush toy as a present. I hope you like her! Love always, mommy." "I

wonder if that Sachiko girl is here. I bet she'd want this back. She must be all lonely without her friend." Ayumi thought. "She must be. I saw a girl in a red dress that

said so." Yuka told them. "What else did you notice about her?" Satoshi wondered. "She helped me escape from Kizami yet she had this...air around her that reeked of

hatred and malice. She's got to be the Sachiko Ayumi mentioned in her story." It was only a few more hallways before the gang caught up together. "Hey Satoshi! How

are you guys?" Yoshiki yelled even though he was practically in his ear. "We're good. Naomi's been very helpful and Yuka has been offering all her support." "Where's

Shinohara?" Naomi was about to answer but stopped before she could utter a word. "She...She died..." "Not another one! I can't take anymore of this!" Ayumi

cried into Yoshiki's chest. "Another one? What do you mean, Ayumi? What's wrong?" "Suzume...and Morishige...They're dead too!" she sniffled barely able to form

sentences amid her despair. Yuka felt a sudden guilt in her heart. She saw Shig taking pictures of Mitsuki's corpse yet she still wanted to use him for support. He kept

acting weird and saying, "Why are you running?" over and over while getting way too close for comfort. She felt she had no other choice but to run away. He would call

out for her the way Kizami did when he chased her. Her brother interrupted her train of thought when he discussed what he believed to be an escape plan. It seemed

far fetched as the escape plan wasn't his own but rather it was from a video he and Naomi stumbled upon by Kou Kabiki and his cameraman Shougo Taguchi. There did

seem to be some missing details, but Satoshi was confident in his ability to clue together the rest. They all got really close together for safety and looked for the

basement where the children died. It took forever, but they managed to find it, yet it didn't look like a regular basement. It looked more like an underground bunker.

"What kind of a basement is this? Who would build something like this?" Yuka whined. "Some sick motherfucker, that's who." Yoshiki told her. They followed the

stagnant stench of gore and guts before being startled by an older man in a beanie. He didn't even look back or say a word; he just ran and ran until he disappeared

out of sight. "Let's go follow him, guys! He probably knows the way out! C'mon!" Naomi remembered the video instructions and led the group by pulling Satoshi by his

hand. Everything moved so fast that the passage of time seemed to be nothing. Naomi kept herself on high alert and quickly skimmed and scanned every square inch

to make sure she was going in the right direction towards the very pits of the basement. The scent of decay, hatred, blood, organs, and rust filled the whole place as

they ventured further down. A room with implements of torture and remains on the floor was where they were led to. "Let's get out of this room! It's scary, big

brother!" Yuka whimpered. "Alright. We'll jus..." Satoshi was interrupted by the sound of a heavy person carrying something just as large grew louder and louder. "It's

him! He'll kill us! What do we do now?" Ayumi feared. "We'll hide under the table! That's the best place! C'mon, Ayumi. You go first and I'll be right behind you. Trust

me." Yoshiki would do anything to make sure she was protected and if Yoshikazu laid a hand on her he would readily fight for her life even if it meant the end of his

own. Hell, he'd do it for anybody. He felt he didn't have anything else left to lose so he might as well be as strong and bold as he possibly could. He pulled the other

students under the table with him, not even giving them a chance to react. Yuka curled into a fetal position into her brother while he held tightly onto her. Yoshikazu

came in dragging a girl's corpse while mindlessly mumbling to himself. He hoisted the body onto the table but before he could secure it, he heard a rustling noise

coming from a closet in the corner. The body dropped but he ignored it and went to find out who would disturb him. Naomi noticed the body was Seiko's. Her body

became rigid and when Yoshikazu found Taguchi and tenderized him with the sledgehammer she was going to scream but Ayumi, Yuka, Satoshi, and Yoshiki covered

her mouth so the same wouldn't happen to them.

* * *

"Mayu? Are you alright?" Shig asked her. "I want to go home. That's all I want right now. To go home." "We can't. We're stuck here forever." he frowned. He wished he

could reassure her, but he had to face the fact that he and Mayu's spirit's are stuck there. Unless... "Well, at least we can help others who come here. And you're with

me. Yeah, we may be feel our pain but we'll do our best to help others despite that truth." Mayu, even in death, was still happy and cordial which is something many

could not even dream of doing. And even though she knew they couldn't leave Heavenly Host, she still had a thread of hope that somehow they'll be saved.


End file.
